Cristina Hodgson
THE Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Sustainable Development has confirmed the hatching of the first bearded vulture chick to be born in the wild in Andalucia this season 2019-2020.
The significant discovery was made by the technicians of the Recovery Plan for Necrophagous Birds of the Autonomous Community who were able to observe how the newly born chick, named ‘Savuti’ was being fed by his parents.
Both adult specimens have been successfully breeding every year since 2017, so the chick born in 2020 is already the fourth of this ‘experienced’ pair.
The adult pair were both born at the Guadalentín breeding centre in Marchena (Sevilla).
The male was released in 2010 and the female in 2012 under the Project for the Reintroduction of the Bearded Vulture in Andalucia.
Savuti is actually the sixth chick to be born this season in Andalucia, however, the only one born in the wild as the other chicks all hatched in captivity, in the Guadalentín captive breeding centre, located in the Natural Park of the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas (Jaén).
In total, this breeding season has seen six pairs of Bearded Vultures of the Guadalentín centre lay a total of 13 eggs between December 8 and February 15.
There are expectations that more chicks will hatch in the coming weeks.
The Bearded Vulture, also known as the lammergeier, is a bird of prey and is the only known vertebrate whose diet consists almost exclusively of bone. It is a long-lived species, often exceeding 40 years of life.
They have a long breeding season, which begins in October and ends around August or September.
In Europe they live and breed on crags in high mountains in Southern parts of the continent.
The population of this species continues to decline and are currently classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as Near Threatened.
