14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 1 Bearded Vulture Reintroduction into the Alps Annual Report 2002 Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture Frankfurt Zoological Society 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 2 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 3 BG 140, Averell in 1999 Photo: RICHARD ZINK, Austria FOREWORD Undoubtedly, the most important event in the year 200 has been the discovery of two new free-living breeding pairs of Bearded Vultures in the Alps. The known number of breeding pairs now stands at six and each of them produced a young. Of these five managed to fledge successfully, in itself an extraordinary result reflecting the excellent conditions in the Alps. The International Monitoring Scheme that was begun in 2001 continued its indispens- able work successfully. I am confident that it will reveal many pairs more in the years to come. At this point in time the ultimate goal of the project becomes clearly within reach. In this past year our friend KAREL PITHART lived through an ordeal when the Prague Zoo was flooded, and we felt all relieved and grateful when he managed to save both pairs of Bearded Vultures. Dr. MAARTEN BIJLEVELD VAN LEXMOND President of the Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 4 2 Contents 2002 Foreword 1 Breeding Network Reproduction in 2002 3 Transfers - Increases - Deaths in 2002 9 EEP stock in 2002 15 Reproduction between 1978 and 2002 18 Age distribution in 2002 20 Release Report on Releases in 2002 21 Release in NP Hohe Tauern, Anlauftal, Salzburg, Austria in 2002 29 Release in Haute-Savoie in 2002 30 Release in Martelltal/Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio in 2002 32 Release in Alpi Marittime Nature Park in 2002 33 Wing marks and ring colours from 1986 - 2002 36 Monitoring Bearded Vulture Monitoring in Engadine, Switzerland in 2002 42 Sightings of Bearded Vultures in the Piedmontese valleys (except Canavese and Gran Paradiso National Park) January to December 2002 51 Alpine Monitoring of Bearded Vultures: preliminary data on dispersal, pair settlement and survival 53 Alpine Monitoring of Bearded Vultures: pair formation - new pairs - pairs & reproduction 59 A new pair in Austria: Gastein, National Park Hohe Tauern 60 Austrian Bearded Vulture Monitoring 2002 61 A farewell to Averell (BG 140009041) – the Bearded Vulture from the Lechtal in Austria 64 BG 388017070, Paolo Peila’s Health Problems 66 Observations on a Bearded Vulture in the Netherlands in 2002 67 Autochthonous Populations Bearded Vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) population in the French Pyrenees - 2002 68 Bearded Vultures (Gypaetus barbatus) in the Spanish Pyrenees in 2002 69 Miscellaneous Bearded Vulture reintroduction project in Andalucia, Spain 72 Annual Report of the Breeding Center Natur- und Tierpark Goldau 81 Mounting devices for satellite tracking of Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) - preliminary results 82 On the former distribution of the Bearded Vulture in Italy 83 „Predation“ of a Bearded Vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) on a young Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus)84 A short note: how many subspecies has Gypaetus barbatus ? 85 Minutes of the Annual Meeting Rhêmes Notre Dame 20th October 2001 85 Minutes of the Annual Meeting Zernez, 26 October 2002 89 Note on the Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture (FCBV), its ORIGIN and GOALS 91 Board members of the FCBV/Foundation for the Conservation of the Bearded Vulture 91 Editorial 92 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 5 2002 Breeding Network 3 Reproduction in 2002 Stiftung bedrohte Tierwelt by Hans Frey * Zoologische The Vienna Breeding Unit Gesellschaft Frankfurt Zoological Society In this breeding season, eight pairs produced a clutch: BG 009 x BG 006019020 produced two eggs (13th/14th and 18th of December. The first young died in the early stage of hatching (BG 384009006 on the 4th of February). The second egg hatched on the 12th of February (BG 385009006) but died on the 19th of February from an infection of the yolk- sac. The single egg of BG 014 x BG 133134135 was laid on the 19th of December. Three days later it laid broken in the nest as was another egg laid on 13th of February. BG 086014010 x BG 104030026 had again two eggs (7th and 12th of January). The first hatched on the 2nd of March (BG 393086104), the second on the 9th of March (BG 396086104) but died during hatching. BG 105161162 x BG 178 had two eggs laid on the 21st and 26th of December. Both eggs disap- peared during incubation and the pair stopped brooding on the 8th of February. Maybe a second clutch was produced on the 11th of March, but the pair abandonded incubation four days later. No egg remains could be found in the nest. The pair BG 017019021 x BG 070022023 produced two eggs (31st of December and 5th of January), which hatched on 21st and 27th of February (BG 388017070 and BG 392017070 respectively). BG 031 x BG 003 laid their clutch on the 1st of January and another egg on the 23rd of January. The first egg disappeared on the second day of incubation, the second egg proved to be infertile. BG 199 x BG 107150151 had two eggs (24th and 29th of December), which hatched on the17th and 24th of February (BG 386199107 and BG 389199107 respectively). BG 108065040 x BG 175152153 had produced one egg (13th of February), which hatched on the 7th of April (BG 402108175) in the nest of the parents. A second egg was found beside the nest a few days after hatching of BG 402 on the 10th of April. It proved to be fertile with a well developed fetus but died because of hypothermia. ➛ Remarks on pair BG 014 x BG 133134135. The female still behaved sometimes rather dominant and did not tolerate her mate at the eyrie for some time during the 3rd week of January. Although the eggs disappeared the pair could be used as foster parents for BG 389199107 (offering dummy eggs after the loss of the clutch). ➛ Remarks on pair BG 031 x BG 003. On the 2nd of January the incubation of the first egg was stopped and maybe the egg was broken; on 23rd of January BG 003 remained laying in the nest during the feeding in the facility. On the next day male BG 031 too stayed in the nest during feeding and made brooding movements. On the 9th of February the single egg was removed and transfer- red to male pair BG 204 x BG 158. In particular female BG 003 did not take part in the brooding as intensively as she used to do in the past and stopped participation in February and March. BG 031 took care for the dummy egg during the night but during day time only for some hours. On 6th of March, BG 392017070 was transferred from the incubator and hand rearing to this old pair. During the first three days the female did not participate in the raising (she only visited the eyrie to have a look on the young and to pick up some food) but the male warmed the young immediately and star- ted to feed it from the next day on. From 9th of March on, also BG 003 took care of the foster chick. ➛ Remarks on BG 204, Oskar. As in 2001, BG 204 was „paired“ with BG 158 (see AR 2001, p. 3) and both first brooded intensively on a dummy egg (put into the nest on the 26th of January) and afterwards (from 9th of February on) the egg of pair BG 031x BG 003. On 8th of March, BG 393086104 was transferred to the male pair and Oskar immediately took care of the nestling. * Department of Pathobiology, Institute of Parasitology and Zoology, Veterinary Medicine University Vienna, Veterinärplatz 1, A-1210 Wien, Austria. [email protected] 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 6 4 Breeding Network 2002 Table 1: Breeding pairs in 2002 AUSTRIA Alpenzoo Innsbruck BG 019 x BG 021 1st: 04th Jan disappeared 2nd:10th Jan embryo died 3rd:02nd Mar embryo died Tiergarten Schönbrunn BG 201 x BG 044002003 1st:20th Jan 15th Mar Vienna Breeding Unit BG 031 x BG 003 1st: 01st Jan broken 2nd:23rd Jan broken BG 014 x BG 133134135 1st: 19th Dec disappeared 2nd:13th Feb disappeared BG 009 x BG 006019020 1st: 13th/14th Dec embryo died 2nd:18th Dec 12th Feb BG 199 x BG 107150151 1st: 24th Dec 17th Feb 2nd:29th Dec 24th Feb BG 017019021 x BG 070022023 1st: 31st Dec 21st Feb 2nd:05th Jan 27th Feb BG 086014010 x BG 104030026 1st: 07th Jan 02nd Mar 2nd:12th Jan 09th Mar BG 105161162 x BG 178 1st: 21st Dec disappeared 2nd:26th Dec disappeared 3rd: 11th Mar disappeared BG 108065040 x BG 175152153 13th Feb 07th April ? embryo died FRANCE Breeding Centre Haute-Savoie BG 011002003 x BG 054034035 1st: 18th Dec embryo died 2nd: 25th Dec embryo died GERMANY Hannover Zoo BG 080019021 x BG 081004027 23rd Jan died during hatching Nuremberg Zoo BG 018019021 x BG 272161162 1st: 03rd Jan embryo died 2nd:09th Jan Falconry stat. 3rd:16th Feb disappeared (stolen?) Wuppertal Zoo BG 043019021 x BG 040034035 08th Jan infertile KAZAKHSTAN Almaty Zoo BG 156154155 x BG 157154155 1st:13th Jan infertile 2nd:23rd Jan infertile 3rd:04th Feb infertile 4th:11th Feb infertile BG 159 x BG 270 1st:06th Jan infertile 2nd:21st Jan 13th Mar 3rd:01st Feb 25th Mar 14801P_Para_JB 07.07.2004 14:05 Uhr Seite 7 2002 Breeding Network 5 SPAIN Centro de Cría Guadalentín BG 124131132 x BG 041034035 1st: 22nd Dec 21st Feb 2nd:27th Dec 27th Feb 3rd: 05th Jan embryo died SWITZERLAND Breeding Centre Goldau/Rigi BG 122014010 x BG 118154155 1st: 14th Jan 07th Mar 2nd:21st Jan embryo died BG 174134135 x BG 091005006 09th Jan infertile BG 060034035 x BG 276199107 14th Feb infertile La Garenne BG 034 x BG 130150151 21st Dec 14th Feb Bern Zoo BG 148019021 x BG 142009041 08th Jan infertile TS-REPUBLIC Prague Zoo BG 134 x BG 135 02nd Jan 26th Feb Liberec Zoo BG 180161162 x BG 274 1st:22nd Dec embryo died 2nd:14th/15th Feb 16th April 3rd:19th Feb embryo died It was nearly impossible to shove him from the nest exchanging the dummy egg against the nest- ling.