Bearded Vulture Management

For a long time, the Bearded Vulture was mistaken for a dangerous predator and was extensively hunted and persecuted in the early 19th century. Contrary to the belief that it posed a threat to livestock and even humans, the Bearded Vulture has a specialized diet that primarily consists of bones from dead animals.

The use of poisoned bait to control foxes and wolves, together with a decline in the ungulate population, eventually led to the bird's complete disappearance from the Alpine region. The last documented shooting of a bearded vulture took place in the Aosta Valley in Italy in 1913.

The first reintroduction attempts were made in the French Alps in the early 1970s, but failed. In 1986, the first successful reintroduction took place in the Hohe Tauern National Park in Austria. In 1997, almost 80 years after the disappearance of the bearded vulture from the Alps, a wild chick was first observed in Haute Savoie (FRA). Since then, the species has slowly re-established itself in the mountains of Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland.