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.
Image: Nikolay Terziev/BSPB
The alert was received on the evening of 16 March from colleagues at the Dadia–Lefkimi–Soufli National Park in northeastern Greece, after GPS transmitter data indicated abnormal behaviour of the bird.
The Cinereous vulture has an interesting history. It was captured in August 2025 near the black vulture aviary close to Madzharovo and transferred for treatment to the Wildlife Rescue Centre of Green Balkans in Stara Zagora. After successful rehabilitation, tagging with a GPS transmitter, and a period of adaptation, the bird was released by a BSPB team on 21 January 2026.
On 17 March, a BSPB team visited the location of the last recorded coordinates and found the bird dead in the waters of the Byala Reka River. Upon inspection, it was established that one of the bird’s legs was entangled with synthetic fibre, to which a stone had been tied.
Further investigation of the area, including a site where the bird had been feeding, revealed remains of a dead animal, an unidentified crystalline substance, and numerous dead flies – clear indications of poisoning. The team immediately reported the case to the emergency number 112.
The police conducted an on-site inspection and collected evidence in the presence of witnesses.
Image: Nikolay Terziev/BSPB
Only days earlier, a mass poisoning incident was reported in the Dadia–Lefkimi–Soufli National Park in northeastern Greece, which resulted in the death of nine Cinereous vultures, while three others were found in critical condition but were rescued.
This incident highlights the ongoing threat of illegal poisoning—one of the leading causes of mortality for vultures in Europe. Ongoing efforts under the LIFE Rhodope Vulture project are already improving rapid response capacity and on-site coordination, helping to limit damage. BSPB calls on authorities to strengthen control and implement effective measures against such crimes against wildlife.
The LIFE Rhodope Vulture project, implemented in Bulgaria by the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds in cooperation with the Rewilding Rhodopes, (Project No. 101148254 — LIFE23-NAT–BG–LIFE Rhodope Vulture) is co-funded by the European Union’s LIFE Programme and Rewilding Europe.
