GOOD NEWS FROM ITALY!

Prospekt News

Photo 1. The CVN vulture named Vili, immediately prior to its release into the wild from the Rescue Centre at Beli (Photo from the archives of P.I. Priroda)

GOOD NEWS FROM ITALY!

One of the five Griffon vultures, which were rescued last year and then released back into the wild in December after recovering in the flight aviary of the Beli Visitor Centre, was sighted from 5 – 18 June 2017 at a vulture feeding station in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia-Giulia! The vulture was spotted because of its green plastic leg ring with the letters CVN. Located in the Lago di Cornino nature reserve, the feeding station was set up in the late 1980s to facilitate the reintroduction of Griffon vultures in the nearby alpine region, where today this species nests.

We were especially happy to hear this good news because the Griffon vulture in question was rescued from certain death in the sea on 24 June 2016 by Mr Viliam Mirković of Lovran, as he was sailing along the coast of Cres Island with two guests from Poland. Later, when we met Mr Mirković, he modestly told us how he rescued the bird, an event he is likely to remember for the rest of his life. Before we released the vulture, we named it Vili. Obviously the name we gave the bird, after its saviour, continues to bring it good luck in the first years of its life, when the mortality rate of young vultures is the highest.

Marko Modrić