Reintroduction actions are the main pillar of LIFE GYPCONNECT. The mandate is based on one crucial action: the reintroduction of the Bearded Vulture as a genuine demonstration and example:

• Reintroduction is the last recourse to help an endangered species and to save it from extinction;
• The project is appealing and attracts attention as it is the logical follow-up to efforts in favor of the conservation of the Bearded Vulture in Europe deployed since the 70s.

The project’s release operations are planned on the basis of the many current experiments in large raptor captive breeding as well as in the strengthening and reintroduction of populations in the wild.

The scientific, technical and sociological implications of the project are ideal to convince the general public to contribute to the protection of the Bearded Vulture. The implementation of release operation, preparing release sites, releasing the birds, requires two preliminary actions:

• Updating the protocol and selecting the release sites,
• Recommending scenarios favorable to the settlement, connection and viability of Bearded Vulture populations.

The release sites have been defined and approved in the territories concerned. However, the project also includes the steps required for the preparation of new release sites (useful in the case of new threats and for the extension of the Vercors program to the Baronnies). The project entails coordinating the VCF’s international captive breeding network by providing the number of Bearded Vultures required for reintroduction operations in the release sites. This aspect is crucial to ensure the existence and availability of an adequate stock of birds and to centralize the full range of Bearded Vulture monitoring data (France, Italy, Spain, Austria)…