Bearded Vulture - Conservation Status

Conservation Status

The Bearded Vulture is locally threatened. It naturally occurs at low densities, with anywhere from a dozen to 500 pairs now being found in each mountain range in Eurasia where the species breeds. The species is most common in Ethiopia, where an estimated 1,400 to 2,200 are believed to breed. Relatively large, healthy numbers seem to occur in some parts of the Himalayas as well. It was largely wiped out in Europe by the beginning of the 20th century, but has been locally reintroduced and is beginning to re-establish itself in protected areas. The Bearded Vulture has been successfully reintroduced to the Pyrenees of Spain and the Swiss and Italian Alps, with both populations have spread themselves over into France. They have also declined somewhat in parts of Asia and Africa as well, though less severely than in Europe. Declines today are usually due to poisons left out for carnivores, habitat degradation, the disturbances of nests, reduced food supplies and collisions with power lines. It was formerly persecuted in significant numbers because people feared (without justification) that it regularly carried off children and domestic animals; the bird was also hunted as a trophy. Despite the declines, the species clearly occupies a large range and, as such, it is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List. Probably less than 10,000 pairs exist in the wild worldwide.