The bearded vultures Terre and Tornade join the Jonte gorges, in Lozère

Marylène Pieyre, administrator of the Cévennes National Park, godmother of Tornade. LPO – Pascal Orabi

Stephan Maurin, président du Parc national des Cévennes, parrain de Terre. LPO – Pascal Orabi

Lundi 13 mai 2024, deux jeunes vautours ont été lâchés dans le Parc national des Cévennes.

Monday May 13, two young bearded vultures reached the Lozère cliffs of the Cévennes National Park. With this new release, a total of thirty-eight vultures have been released in the territory of the Grands Causses since 2012, in order to strengthen the population of this vulture in the Massif Central and encourage their movement between the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Baptized Terre and Tornado by the schoolchildren of Vébron, the two young female bearded vultures were placed in a protected rock cavity located in the Lozère cliffs in the heart of the Cévennes National Park. Coming from the specialized breeding center of Guadalentin (Andalusia), the young females are approximately 90 days old and weigh a little over 5.5 kg.

Acclimatization

To identify them, rings were placed on them and some of their feathers were bleached. They have also been equipped with GPS beacons, in order to ensure their tracking after their flight, which will only take place in about a month. A phase of acclimatization to their environment, learning and feeding is necessary before gaining autonomy. In the meantime, an attentive team monitors new arrivals and their progress on a daily basis.

Like every year, sponsors are assigned for each bird. Stéphan Maurin, president of the National Park, chose to sponsor Terre, and Marylène Pieyre, administrator of the Park, is the godmother of Tornade.

38 bearded vultures since 2012

The reintroduction of the bearded vulture into the Grands Causses began in 2012 thanks to a partnership between the LPO, the Cévennes National Park and the Grands Causses Regional Natural Park. This operation is integrated into the European Life Gyp’ACT program which aims to: strengthen the bearded vulture population by creating new population centers in the Drôme and the Massif Central and encourage movements of bearded vultures. rsquo;birds from these population centers between the Alps and the Pyrenees and more broadly reestablish the existence of continuity between the populations of the species in Central and Southern Europe.< /p>

Since 2012, thirty-eight young bearded vultures have been released in the Grands Causses, alternately in the Jonte cliffs, in Lozère, or in the Trévezel valley, in Aveyron. Currently, eleven of them are still present in this territory and the hopes of seeing a first breeding pair form are high!

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