White-rumped vultures return to Cyprus: five pairs have raised three chicks

Environmental organizations in Cyprus have reported a major success in the rare bird population recovery program. For the first time since 2021, successful nesting of griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) has been recorded on the island. In the current 2026 breeding season, specialists from BirdLife Cyprus and the Game and Fauna Service found five breeding pairs, which have already produced three chicks. This event has become the most significant result of years of efforts to save the species, which came to the brink of extinction in Cyprus after the last breeding birds died from poisoning in 2022 and 2023.

The international LIFE with Vultures project played a key role in the recovery. Four of the five pairs consist of birds imported from Spain and released into the wild in 2022–2023, which have now reached sexual maturity. Of particular symbolic importance is the fifth pair, formed by a 13-year-old female from Crete, brought under the earlier GYPAS program, and a male born in Cyprus in 2021. Experts also note the vultures’ return to historic nesting sites: one of the pairs occupied a site that had been vacant for about 15 years.

To ensure the safety of the offspring during the most vulnerable period (from late winter to summer), conservation services together with the Administration of the British Sovereign Base Areas (SBAA) have established special protection zones around two nests located on their territory. Any disturbance, whether noise or the presence of people, can cause the birds to abandon their clutches. In the near future, the chicks will be ringed and fitted with GPS transmitters. This will allow specialists to monitor their survival after fledging — a key indicator of the program’s long-term success.

Despite this unprecedented success, the griffon vulture remains one of the most vulnerable species in Cyprus. The main threats to the population, which numbered hundreds in the mid-20th century and has fallen to just two dozen in recent years, remain illegal poisoned bait in rural areas and collisions with power lines. The current nesting season is seen by conservationists as a reason for cautious optimism and the most notable result of the LIFE with Vultures project (2019–2023).