Alzina photographed in the sorroundings of Frontignan (France). © Eric Galéa

Black Vulture female named Alzina, released at the Alinyà Natural Site on 24 July 2012, has been found and photographed in the surroundings of the of Frontignan (France) –233 km far away from the release point– on 21 January last by the mountain guide Eric Galéa.

 

 

The importance of this observation is that the fact that it had been five months since this individual was last seen in the Boumort-Alinyà reintroduction area, specifically, on 28 August 2012 at the feeding point in the NHR of Boumort. Alzina, before being released, was equipped with a terrestrial tramsmitter (VHF) hitched up to her back with a harness. Unfortunately, a few days after she was flying freely, the transmitter ceased to send out signals, loosing the signal and the possibility to find her by means of the radio-tracking equipment. For this reason, it has been a great news to hear of Alzina again and, from the working team of the project, we want to thank Eric for his interest to send us such a valuable information.

The reintroduction project of the Black Vulture in the Pyrenees is promoted by the Departament d’Agricultura, Ramaderia, Pesca, Alimentació i Medi Natural de la Generalitat de Catalunya in the National Hunting Reserve of Boumort and by the Fundació Catalunya – La Pedrera in the Alinyà Natural Site. GREFA and Trenca are involved in the implementation of the project.

You can find further information on the section reintroduction of the Black Vulture in the Pyrenees and on the section videos in this website.