Commemoration of International Vulture Day

Every year on September 3rd, the world observes International Vulture Day. This year, the Youth Club Novi Val Blagaj and the Ornithological Society “Naše ptice” commemorate 16 years since the start of the project for the reintroduction of the Griffon Vultures in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

International Vulture Day aims to highlight the very precarious status of vulture populations in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as globally. It also serves as an opportunity to draw attention to the factors affecting the survival of this group of birds.

The most well-known representative of this group of birds in Bosnia and Herzegovina is the Griffon Vulture (Gyps fulvus). The Griffon Vulture is one of the largest flying birds, measuring 95-105 cm in length, and typically weighs between 8 and 9 kilograms. Some individuals have wingspans reaching nearly 3 meters, but most range between 2.50 and 2.70 meters. They have evolved as birds that feed exclusively on dead animals, primarily the carcasses of large mammals.

At the end of the last century, four colonies of this vulture were identified in Herzegovina: at the source of the Buna River in Blagaj, on the Hrugud Mountain near Stolac, in the Neretva River canyon near Žitomislići, and in Popovo Field. During monitoring in the breeding seasons of 1983 and 1984, a population was established in these locations, estimated to number around 30 pairs.

One of the most impressive colonies was the one above Tekija in Blagaj. In 1991, there was an incident of vulture poisoning in Blagaj when a person, attempting to protect their goat herd from wolves, poisoned a goat in hopes of killing a wolf. However, this resulted in the poisoning of almost all the vultures inhabiting the area.

Since 2007, the Youth Club Novi Val has been working on the return of the Griffon Vultures to their natural habitats in the Blagaj area.

Novi Val Blagaj and the Ornithological Society “Naše ptice” invite you to the Eco Center Blagaj for an open day in honor of International Vulture Day. This event will provide citizens with the opportunity to learn about the status of vultures in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the problem of animal poisoning, which is one of the main causes of vulture extinction in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The program will take place on September 3, 2022 (Saturday) from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM.