According to the “Vulture Conservation Foundation” (FVC), which coordinates the “LIFE Aegypius Return” project, financed by the European Union's LIFE program and which has several partners, such as the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF ) and the Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Rewilding Portugal and Quercus.

When it started two years ago, the objective was to double the breeding population of black vultures in Portugal, then estimated at 40 pairs, in four colonies.

“In 2024, the project recorded 108 to 116 nesting pairs, which produced at least 48 flying chicks. Reproductive success has increased slightly and a new fifth breeding colony is also known, further evidence of the expansion of this threatened species in the country”, summarises the FVC in a statement.

Milene Matos, from FVC, explained to Lusa that the data only includes birds over 100 days old, when they start flying.

According to the person responsible, “reproductive success” has also increased in the last two years, measured by the number of postures that result in offspring, with more than half of the offspring currently surviving (51%).

In 2022, the 40 couples were distributed across the colonies of Douro Internacional, Serra da Malcata, Tejo Internacional and Herdade da Contenda, in Alentejo.

Currently, the Douro Internacional colony, the most isolated, has gone from three to eight nesting pairs since last year and has expanded to the Spanish side, also being monitored by Spanish leaders.

In Serra da Malcata the number of couples increased from four in 2021 to 14 in 2023 and to 18 this year. And in Tejo Internacional, the oldest colony (two pairs in 2010), this year between 61 and 64 pairs were monitored, which produced 24 to 25 flying chicks. Of these couples, a quarter opted for the Spanish side.

In Herdade da Contenda, in the municipality of Moura, 20 to 21 pairs were registered this year, and in Vidigueira, the most recent colony, there are five confirmed nests, but more data still needs to be found.

The project, which runs until December 2027, involves monitoring the black vulture in protected areas in Spain, where 153 pairs were registered this year.

Despite the success, Milene Matos warns of the threats to which vultures are subjected, the first being poisoning, often indirectly, by eating carcasses that have been poisoned.

Other threats, he also said, are related to habitat disturbance (fires, illegal hunting, noise) or collisions with and electrocution on power lines.

“The results are promising, but despite the optimism, it is necessary to approach them with caution, as any significant threat to one of the colonies – which remain relatively small and subject to disturbance – could compromise this positive trend and the sustainability of the populations”, according to VCF, a non-profit entity created in the Netherlands and a leader in vulture conservation in Europe.