The Egyptian Vulture In The Balkans (And the Non-Balkan parts of Greece): A highly endangered bird

 The Egyptian Vulture In The Balkans

N.percenopterus

Vultures are a group of widly spread scavengers that you'll probably recognize from movies, when they circle in the sky above a carcass. This behaviour of theirs might seem disgusting to some, but believe it or not, it is actually good for the ecosystem and for them. However, something that's not good for them is that they're becoming extinct in the Balkans. Why?

The Unfair Reality

In the mountains, farmers are common, and so are canines and other predators. And you know what else is common when there's farmers and predators in the same place? Of course, confilicts between the predators and the farmer's animals. These conflicts are more commonly wolf-sheep conflicts, resulting in local cultures making fairytales about them. So, what do farmers do to stop these conflicts? Well, in the Balkans, farmers have found an inhumane way to get "rid" of the predators. What is this way? Simple : They get a carcass of a dead sheep,cow etc. and put poison in it. That way, when a predator eats the carcass, it will get poisoned and die. Even though these  death traps target wolfs and coyotes (or even foxes sometimes), the ones who most commonly get poisoned by them are vultures. Now, I'm not saying that only Vultures matter and that it is OK to poison wolfs, but what I'm trying to say is that vultures are the most common victim of this trap, and their population is decreasing in the Balkans because of it.

The Egyptian Vulture, Neophron percnopterus

N.percnopterus once was a kind of common sight in Greece and the Balkans, but lately, because of these traps their population has decreased to 74-51 couples in 2019 (which is the latest I could find). In Greece, my country, there are only 3 pairs left, making them an endangered species. Thankfully, thanks to the Hellenic Ornithological Society many actions about the protection of this vulture and all the others have started. Hopefully, one day, N.percnopterus's population will go back to normal.

That was it for today! See you next time!