Sixteen cinereous vultures have been released in the Alto Tajo and Serranía de Cuenca areas of the Iberian Highlands, marking the largest single release since the reintroduction programme began in 2020. The work is part of a long term effort to return this threatened scavenger to a landscape where it disappeared as a resident species around a century ago.
The Iberian Highlands form one of Spain’s largest connected natural landscapes, covering 850,000 hectares of forest, steppe, cliffs and river canyons. Decades of rural depopulation have reduced human pressure and created an opportunity to restore ecological processes across a wide area. Supported by the Endangered Landscapes & Seascapes Programme, the project works with regional partners to revive food chains, improve habitat quality and support sustainable local livelihoods. Cinereous vultures are central to this wider effort. Having previously vanished from the Iberian Highlands as resident birds, they contribute to natural carcass removal and help maintain a balanced scavenger community alongside griffon vultures and Egyptian vultures. Their return supports nutrient cycling and the broader function of the ecosystem.
The reintroduction programme is led by the Department for Sustainable Development of the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha and the Alto Tajo Natural Park. On-the-ground work is carried out by Rewilding Spain and the Terra Naturalis Association, with support from environmental officers and volunteers.
Largest release to date
Before release, all 16 vultures were examined by veterinarians and fitted with GPS tracking devices so that their movements can be monitored after they leave the aviary. This release brings the total number of cinereous vultures reintroduced through the programme to 37.
Several of the newly released birds are adults that are already capable of breeding. Their age and condition mean there is a realistic prospect that some may attempt to nest in the coming spring, increasing the likelihood that cinereous vultures will once again establish themselves as a regular breeding species in Alto Tajo and Serranía de Cuenca.
Restoring a lost scavenger
Cinereous vultures disappeared from the Iberian Highlands as a result of forest degradation and human pressures. Their return is expected to support a healthier scavenger community, alongside griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) and Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus), which occupy slightly different feeding niches.
“The recovery of the cinereous vulture as a breeding species in Alto Tajo and Serranía de Cuenca is a model of rigorous work that contributes to the global conservation of this threatened species,” explains Jorge F. Layna, Terra Naturalis technical manager for the project.
Pablo Schapira, Rewilding Spain’s team leader in the Iberian Highlands, highlights the ecological importance of this return. “The comeback of the cinereous vulture to the Iberian Highlands is essential for strengthening the food chain and diversifying the ecological roles played by scavenging birds across different species. We hope that, thanks to this collaboration between organisations, we will soon see the cinereous vulture nesting once again in this landscape.”
From rehabilitation to release
All sixteen vultures released in this latest phase came from wildlife recovery centres in Castilla-La Mancha, where they had been admitted with illness or injury. After rehabilitation, the birds spent several months in an adaptation aviary within the Alto Tajo Natural Park.
This period allows them to adjust to local conditions, observe other scavengers using the area and learn to associate the surrounding landscape with food. The overall process is designed to increase the chance that, once released, they will choose the Iberian Highlands as their long term home.
To further encourage settlement, the programme manages six supplementary feeding points and has installed 21 nesting platforms in suitable trees across Alto Tajo and Serranía de Cuenca. Two life-sized decoy vultures are also used to attract prospecting birds to these sites.
Monitoring for the long term
As in previous releases, all birds were fitted with GPS devices before leaving the aviary. This work was carried out with the support of specialist raptor tagger Víctor García Matarranz from Spain’s Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO), together with environmental rangers from Castilla-La Mancha and Rewilding Spain’s volunteers.
The GPS data will provide detailed information on how the vultures use the landscape, where they feed, and whether they begin to show signs of establishing territories and nesting sites. These insights will guide future management, from where to focus supplementary feeding to where new nesting platforms might be needed.
The cinereous vulture reintroduction programme in Alto Tajo uses a stepwise approach that prioritises animal welfare and aims to build a self-sustaining local population. The latest release represents a significant advance in the return of this species to the Iberian Highlands and reflects close collaboration between regional authorities, conservation organisations and local volunteers.
This article was originally published on the Rewilding Spain website. To find out more about the Iberian Highlands, visit their project page.
