What does VCF mean?

In September 2009 the Black Vulture Conservation Foundation (BVCF) and the Foundation for Conservation of Bearded Vultures (FCBV) merged into a single new entity: the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF). The VCF will continue with the successful work of its two founding organizations and strives to coordinate actions for all four European vulture species: the Black vulture (Aegypius monachus), the Griffon vulture (Gyps fulvus), the Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) and the Bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus).

What VCF does...

The Foundation co-ordinates the different regional and national actions such as reproduction, release, monitoring and protection of the species in the territories where a recolonisation is in act. 
The Foundation decides about the number of the birds to be released each year and where the release will take place, keeping in mind the need to maintain a good genetic variability inside the genetic pool.
The Foundation co-ordinates also the collecting of the observations of the released birds and of those born in the wild through the IBM, guided by Richard Zink.

The Foundation supervises the reintroduction project for the Beared vulture in the Alps, which began in 1986. In 2006 a new reintroduction project started in Andalusia.
Morover the Foundation is in charge of many other projects carried out in Europe such as the Vulture Action Plan, the black vulture project in Mallorca and many more.

summary of VCF activities
presentation_leaflet_vcf_24032010.pdf - 1 MB

More information will be provided here!

New marking pattern available now:

Marking Pattern for the Alps 2010
2010d.pdf - 326 kB

New record in ALpine BV reproduction?

Out of 19 couples that started with incubation in the beginning of May 11 remain successfully raising a chick.

The first Bearded Vulture chicks are born

April 2010: Meanwhile a total of 18(19) couples have started with reproduction. At least 9 chicks have hatched in the Alps.

On ~21st of February the first hatchling could be observed this year in the Vanoise National Park. Congratulations to Jean Pierre Martinot and his successful monitoring team.

Alpine Breeding Season 2008/2009

In the year 2009 13 couples started to breed in the Alps. Two more might have started but could not be checked because the risk of avalanche was too high. In 5 cases the breeding failed. The first chicks hatched in March. Eight birds fledge during summer 2009.