An Egyptian vulture that was rescued as a flightless chick from a devastating wildfire in Greece's Dadia Forest in 2022 has been spotted alive three years later in Bulgaria, a rare and hopeful sign for the critically endangered species.
The young vulture and its sibling were saved from their nest during one of Europe's largest wildfires in recent decades.
After the fire, they were returned to the nest, ringed for identification, and successfully raised by their parents before migrating to Africa.
This month, researchers from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds located one of the survivors in the Rhodope Mountains and fitted it with a tracking transmitter, confirming its Greek origin.
The survival is a significant development, said a field researcher with the Thrace Biodiversity Protection Society, Elisavet Kret. She noted that only five breeding pairs of Egyptian vultures remain in Greece—all in the Thrace region—and that many young birds do not survive their first perilous migration.
“The reappearance of a young Egyptian vulture in its birth region is an optimistic sign,” Ms. Kret said.