Griffon vultures cling to recovery as conservation gains threatened
Efforts to save the griffon vulture population in Cyprus have delivered fragile yet tangible results after three years of intensified conservation work, BirdLife Cyprus said in a New Year post.
Despite once being a familiar sight across the island, vultures declined sharply in the twentieth century due to poisoned baits used against foxes and changes in livestock farming that reduced available carcasses on which they fed.
By the early 2000s, the griffon vulture population had collapsed to just over ten birds, leaving the population at risk of dying out.
As a result, BirdLife and state services launched population reinforcement efforts.
After an initial transfer of birds from Crete in 2014, which was later undermined by mass poisoning incidents, a renewed programme began in earnest under the EU’s Life with Vultures project.
Between 2022 and 2025, a total of 58 griffon vultures were transferred from Spain, home to the world’s largest population of the species.
The birds acclimatised in a Limassol enclosure before being gradually released into the wild, fitted with GPS transmitters to allow constant monitoring.
Today, 38 of those birds remain alive, a survival rate of around 65 per cent.
Taking into account the surviving birds from the original Cypriot population, between 41 and 44 griffon vultures are now flying over the island.
Losses have nevertheless been significant, with nine deaths from electrocution on power lines, one from a collision with overhead cables, two from poisoning and eight from natural or unexplained causes.
The vulnerability of the species was underlined by the recent death of a griffon vulture electrocuted less than a day after being released, following six weeks of intensive rehabilitation.
Despite the setbacks, a pair of released birds last year nested in the Paphos forest, marking the first such behaviour in four years.
Although a resultant egg did not hatch, BirdLife said the attempt was a milestone in the species’ slow recovery.
Breeding is expected to begin more consistently from 2026, once the birds reach maturity.
Project partners continue daily monitoring and are calling for the insulation of power lines and stronger enforcement against illegal poisoning.