Ramsau (dpa / lby) – The bearded vulture Dagmar, released in June, left the Berchtesgaden National Park for the first time. A few days ago, your transmitter reported a rapid flight south to East Tyrol, the environmental association LBV and the national park announced on Friday. This was the beginning of Dagmar’s exploration phase, and she would undertake long forays through the Alps over the next few years.
“Dagmar is currently staying in Austria in the vicinity of the Großglockner – within sight of Bavaria, which was released into the wild last year and has been circling a few kilometers to the north for weeks,” reported LBV bearded vulture expert Toni Wegscheider. “We are now eagerly awaiting further transmitter data. Perhaps the two cousins ??will soon meet in the airspace of the Central Alps.” Bearded vulture Recka, on the other hand, is still out and about in the vicinity of the national park and explores the surrounding mountain ranges such as the Loferer Steinberge and Steinernes Meer on her day trips.
The animals wear GPS transmitters. This allows the project team to locate the whereabouts of the bearded vultures very precisely. In the project to reintroduce the mighty birds that were wiped out more than 100 years ago, Bavaria and Wally were released into the wild in 2021. But Wally fell victim to a falling rock. All four animals came from the same Spanish breeding program and are related.
The national park and LBV called on hikers to observe bearded vultures. Precisely because there are gaps in GPS monitoring in remote areas, observations by mountaineers who have encountered Dagmar, Recka and Bavaria are important. The birds with a wingspan of up to three meters feed on ass, adult animals eat practically only bones.
