From 13 to 16 July, the Macedonian Ecological Society (MES) organized a study visit to the Eastern Rhodopes in Bulgaria as part of its project “Study Visit to the Vulture Reintroduction Center in Eastern Rhodopes.
A team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB/BirdLife Bulgaria) has ringed and tagged the two Cinereous Vulture juveniles hatched this year in the Bulgarian part of the Eastern Rhodopes with GPS/GSM satellite transmitters. These are the first chicks of the species to hatch in the region in more than 30 years.
Five more cinereous vultures have arrived in Bulgaria from Spain as part of the ongoing efforts to restore the species in the Eastern Rhodope Mountains within the LIFE Rhodope vulture project.
An exceptionally important conservation success has been recorded in the Rhodope Mountains rewilding area – three pairs of Cinereous vultures have successfully hatched chicks, marking the species’ return as a breeding bird in the Bulgarian part of the Rhodope Mountains after more than three decades of absence.
On 17 March 2026, a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) recorded a case of Cinereous vulture poisoning in the area of the village of Mandritsa, within the “Byala Reka” protected area.
A mass poisoning incident in Dadia–Lefkimi–Soufli National Park in northeastern Greece has resulted in the death of nine Cinereous Vulture individuals, while three were found in critical condition but rescued.
From 24 to 26 November 2025, the second working meeting of the “Return of the Black Vultures to the Rhodopes” project took place in Dadia National Park, Greece.
A cinereous vulture, released earlier this year in the Eastern Rhodopes, has been rescued in Serbia by the Serbian Society for the Protection and Study of Birds (Društvo za zaštitu i proučavanje ptica Srbije). The bird’s GPS transmitter signaled a lack of movement, prompting an immediate response and a successful rescue operation in the area of Vranjska Banja, Serbia.
Between June 2 and 6, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) organized a youth conservation and educational camp in the “vulture town” of Madzharovo. Eight participants with a strong interest in birds and nature conservation took part in the event.
Seven more Cinereous vultures travelled an impressive 3,300 kilometers from Spain to the Eastern Rhodopes to become part of the ambitious LIFE project ” Restoration of the Cinereous vulture population and trophic chain in the Bulgarian-Greek cross-border region“, to bring back this majestic species in Bulgaria.
