A battery level of three percent can almost cause some mobile phone users to panic. For Ulrich Brendel it is excellent news, but it is not about the mobile phone of the deputy head of the national park in Berchtesgaden, but about the charge level of the GPS transmitter that the young female bearded vulture Bavaria wears around her waist. Bavaria was released into the wild in the national park last summer, along with a fellow species named Wally by the SZ readers. But while Wally stayed on the air, there had been no signal from Bavaria since the end of November. According to Brendel, the solar cells on the transmitter have now produced so much electricity again that Bavaria can also be located.
Brendel is just as relieved as his co-project manager Toni Wegscheider from the State Association for Bird Protection. Wegscheider says that although there was never any reason to doubt Bavaria’s well-being, there was always hope for a sign of life, as is now the case. “It takes a load off your heart.” According to their current position data, Bavaria circles around the Hochschwab in Styria, Wally has recently continued to fly the Berchtesgaden and Salzburg Alps around the Watzmann east face and the Lueg pass. There, the animals know the terrain and can hope for food in the form of chamois or ibexes that have fallen or been swept away by avalanches.
The first two bearded vultures that were released back into the wild in Germany more than 100 years ago are apparently doing well. That should also please the many people who track their flight routes online. After the failure of Bavaria’s transmitter, bird lovers reported numerous sightings to the project team, including no clear sightings of Bavaria, but photos of white-tailed eagles from Brandenburg, golden eagles from Salzburg and even a stork from Bavaria.