It was a spectacular action. In June, the State Association for Bird Protection (LBV) released the female bearded vultures Wally and Bavaria in the Berchtesgaden National Park. The goal is that Gypaetus barbatus – so the Latin name of the species – is back at home in Bavaria. The SZ is accompanying the project. Wally and Bavaria have long since flown out. A conversation with LBV boss Norbert Schäffer. The 57-year-old biologist was instrumental in driving the reintroduction project forward.
SZ: Mr. Schäffer, what was your strongest experience with Wally and Bavaria?
Norbert Schäffer: There were a lot of impressive days and moments. June 10th alone, when we brought the two female bearded vultures into the release niche on the Knittelhorn. The many enthusiastic guests who were there, first and foremost Agriculture Minister Michaela Kaniber and Environment Minister Thorsten Glauber. In the evening we were in all the news, right down to the topics of the day. For a long time there has not been such a feast day for nature conservation.
But what is the most intense experience for you?
That was clearly Bavaria’s maiden flight. She made the start, she was the first of our two Bearded Vultures to take off.
That was on July 8th.
Exactly, shortly after six in the morning. It was clear days beforehand that it would not be long before Bavaria took off. I came to the national park especially for this because I really wanted to be there. That morning I was about to go up to the release niche on the Knittelhorn. A text message comes from our intern, who was the only one up at the time, that Bavaria has picked up and he has already lost sight of her.
Her reaction?
I got up as fast as I could. That’s about 400 meters in altitude, the path is steep. I should have been up in record time, I was pretty sweaty up there.
And then?
I actually discovered Bavaria straight away. Apparently she had just landed and was sitting in the grass on the slope opposite. I quickly took out my smartphone and took a picture. The picture is quite blurred, but it is the first picture of a bearded vulture in the wild in Bavaria after the species was extinct. The feeling was indescribable.
Bavaria shortly after it landed happily from its maiden flight. LBV boss Norbert Schäffer took the photo with his smartphone.
(Photo: Norbert Schäffer / oh)
Try to describe it anyway.
It was all perfect. The rocky landscape on the Knittelhorn is sensational, the weather was excellent, pure sunshine, no one but me was on the way. There was only Bavaria, who took off again immediately, although still clumsy, especially during the landings. Those were more like crashes. I was shaking that she was doing something. But Bavaria was undaunted. I didn’t take the binoculars off my eyes so I wouldn’t miss anything. It went on for about an hour, then my colleagues came up.
How are Wally and Bavaria doing right now?
We have no more news from Bavaria. Its transmitter has been silent since November 24th (the GPS transmitter with which the LBV people were able to determine where the female bearded vulture is, editor’s note). It is either broken or the solar modules are not supplying enough energy to the batteries. But Bavaria has been seen again and again since then, most recently in the Blühnbachtal in the Salzburg region. That is not far from the Berchtesgaden National Park. We assume that she is fine.
And Wally?
Wally’s transmitter is also very weak, so we rarely receive any signals. Most recently she was in the upper Salzach Valley, only half an hour’s drive from the national park. She is also doing well, she has apparently discovered a chamois carcass high up in a rocky gully in the mountains, the bones of which she is now gradually devouring. Incidentally, the fact that one transmitter has failed and the other only sends a little is the first breakdown in our project.
Otherwise everything went smoothly?
Yes, even so round that we all didn’t even think about how much can go wrong. Something can always go wrong. In a reintroduction project in France, for example, two young male bearded vultures suddenly found themselves dead in the release niche. They were later found to have had severe liver damage from which they died. On another project, a bearded vulture broke its leg and had to be captured. And in another project, a young bearded vulture was bitten by an adder and died. In comparison, the glitches with our transmitters are not a real problem.
The response to the project has also been consistently positive, and not just from experts.
Our two bearded vultures were incredibly well received – especially by the population. There were often around a hundred guests at the information stand across from the release niche. There were visitors who told us that they only chose the Berchtesgaden region as their holiday destination because of the bearded vultures. And the access to our Bearded Vulture webcam on the Internet was gigantic. It has been clicked more than 600,000 times and we counted more than 13,000 comments. These are numbers like pop stars. There are still people who click on the webcam now. And then the many reports on the radio and on television.
The LBV chairman Norbert Schäffer.
(Photo: LBV)
Bearded vultures are scavengers, and most people are disgusted with carrion.
Bearded vultures are not typical scavengers, they eat bones. And bones are very different from carcasses. Bones are perceived as something clean, whereas carcasses with their putrid flesh are disgusting. When a bearded vulture swallows a bone, it is very different from when griffon vultures or black vultures tear up a carcass, causing shreds of flesh to fly through the air. Bearded vultures are very aesthetic birds, and not just when they glide through the air high up in the sky. But also on the ground. And then of course it is its unique size and its up to 2.90 meter span that make it so fascinating.
How good is the immense response to the release project for the LBV?
Above all, it is nature conservation as a whole that benefits from the project. The people learn that they can experience spectacular wild animals not only in Africa and other distant regions, but in the middle of us in highly civilized Europe. Of course, the LBV also benefits. First and foremost, the image. Because contrary to the widespread prejudice, people do not come in droves to us because of such a project. It doesn’t bring us more money, as many believe, but it costs us a lot of money – even if the Free State finances the lion’s share.
Which soul in your chest beats stronger – that of the vulture fan who is enthusiastic about one of the most spectacular bird species, or that of the biologist who wants to reintroduce an exterminated animal species?
One shouldn’t separate one from the other. The enthusiasm for the bearded vulture goes hand in hand with the fact that their reintroduction is a very important species protection project. We want to contribute to closing the gap in the bearded vulture population between the Eastern Alps and the Balkans. This would restore their original range from Morocco via Spain and France through the Alpine arc to the Balkans and from there to Greece, Turkey and Central Asia and secure the long-term existence of the Bearded Vulture.
In June the LBV wants to release the next two bearded vultures. Do the young birds already exist?
Not yet, but the breeding season is in full swing. And the European bearded vulture breeding network has already promised us two new young birds for our project. If things go very well, there could even be three, which we will bring up to the release niche on the Knittelhorn in June 2022.