The species was driven to extinction in the Alps during the 20th Century, and to bring them back, pioneers from all Alpine countries initiated the reintroduction project in the 1970s. Bearded Vultures in the Alps – a successful reintroduction projectįirst releases of captive-bred Bearded Vultures in the Alps This includes animals that died from avalanches and are then exposed to the thawing snow or animals that die towards the end of the season from not surviving harsh conditions, leaving plenty of animal carcasses for the parents to feed their chicks. This special breeding period is related to the diet of the chicks, which cannot digest bone, so the species has evolved to hatch towards the end of winter when there is potentially a plentiful supply of food. Bearded Vultures in the Alps usually start to lay eggs in late December and continue up until February, with parents sharing brooding responsibilities until the chick hatches after an average of 54 days. Therefore, a breeding pair or sometimes trio can only raise one young bird every year.īearded Vultures are the earliest breeders of the four European vulture species. Pairs in the wild typically lay 1-2 eggs, but if both hatch, only the older and stronger chick survives due to evolutionary cainism. It takes up to 5 to 7 years for birds to reach sexual maturity, but breeding success usually occurs from 8 years old onwards. The reproduction of Bearded Vultures is a slow and challenging process. Bearded Vulture breeding behaviour in the wild In one territory (Ötztal in Austria) with successful reproduction, no breeding has been observed in previous years. Switzerland alone welcomed almost half (21) of these fledglings! Furthermore, across all territories, 17 breeding failures have been reported, eight of them after the hatching of the young bird. This year, a record number of 44 fledglings took off for their first flight, 7 more fledglings than in 2020. In this year’s breeding season, 61 territories have been reported to the IBM-network, with 53 chicks hatching. In the Alpine chain, local partners monitor the species’ reproduction progress in the field from a safe distance and report it to the International Bearded Vulture Monitoring Network (IBM), coordinated by the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF). New record of Bearded Vulture fledglings in the Alps Map showing reproduction of Bearded Vultures in the Alps © IBM This brilliant news comes to show that Bearded Vulture numbers continue to increase in the Alps, reinforcing the success of the reintroduction project. Thanks to their diligent efforts, they have once again broken a record, producing the highest-ever known number of fledglings. These birds, known to be devoted parents, braved blizzards, snow and cold temperatures for around 8 to 9 months while conducting their parental duties, which, among other responsibilities, involved building nests, incubating eggs and rearing chicks. The fourth section is 'Help' which is pretty much self explanitory and the fifth and final section is 'Energy' which takes you to the in-game shop where you are given various options on refilling your energy, most of which involves parting with real money.Juvenile Bearded Vulture/ Illustrative © Bruno Berthemyīearded Vultures in the Alps have been extra busy this breeding season. The third section is 'Options' which you can go to during the game to change game settings such as sound volume. The second section is Achievements which displays the achievements you have earned during the game. The first section is 'Play' and it is here where you open up the 'Chapter' or 'Subchapter' selection screen and enter the actual game. The 'Main' menu is split into five sections. You'll need to find clues, gather helpful objects and solve puzzles. You take the role of Anna Myers, a young journalist and must use your investigative skills to discover what has happened. Murder in the Alps is set in 1932 and is a free-to-play fully interactive crime game that has plenty of plot twists as you try to learn the identity of the killer.
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