Tourists Responsible for Deaths of Protected Griffon Vultures in Croatia

Photo-hungry tourists are killing Croatia’s Eurasian Griffon Vultures by rousing them from nests perched on vertical cliffs.

On the Croatian islands of Cres, Krk, Plavnik and Prvić, protected Eurasian Griffon Vultures (Gyps fulvus) nest just above the sea on vertical cliffs. Tourists flock to the area in boats, and upon reaching the areas below the nests, they clap and shout in order to startle the birds into taking flight – hoping to photograph these majestic raptors.

Tragically, many of the birds are young and do not yet know how to fly. Once they are frightened from their nests, they fall into the water and drown.

The Croatian Times reported that five vultures have been killed so far this year, and another five are under the care of Eco-Center Caput Insulae-Beli (ECCIB), a non-profit and non-governmental organization established to protect the natural and cultural-historical heritage on the Croatian Island of Cres.

In hopes of educating the public, (ECCIB) states on their website that

The griffons are very quickly disappearing from the island of Cres because of the disturbance of their nesting grounds. Tourist boats scare the young in the nests, and then as they still don’t know how to fly, they fall in to the sea and drown. The griffons do not know how to swim, and after half an hour their feathers become sodden and they drown. Sometimes the sea will wash them up on the beach, but without help they will die there, starving and exhausted, because they cannot take flight.

ECCIB has established a sanctuary to care for vultures who have fallen into the sea or have been found wounded. The birds are cared for and then released back into the wild.

Although not classified by the IUCN as endangered, the Eurasian Griffon Vulture is a protected species in Croatia, and disturbance of nesting birds can be penalized by a fine.

Here’s to ECCIB and their ongoing efforts to care for the Eurasian Griffon Vultures.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jrguillaumin/ / CC BY-ND 2.0