A bearded vulture, which was released in May 2022 in the Grands Causses, in Occitanie, died, hitting a wind turbine, in Zeewolde, in the Netherlands, said on Tuesday, the Cevennes National Park. It is the second bearded vulture, reintroduced as part of the Life Gypconnect and Gyp’Act programs, to suffer the same fate.
Roc, the name which had been attributed to this great vulture, had left the Grands Causses, and had stayed in the Alps, then, more briefly, in Paris, before exploring Switzerland, Germany, and, finally, the Netherlands, where his journey came to an abrupt end. “The loss of Roc is very bad news for the reintroduction program implemented in the Grands Causses”, deplores the Cévennes National Park.
“Important work is being carried out”, by the League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) and the Foundation for the Conservation of Vultures (VCF), indicates the park, “to provide data on the presence of the species to researchers and energy operators with the aim of avoiding the development of wind farms on passage corridors and breeding areas of the bearded vulture”. But for Roc, it wasn’t enough.