Border area with Austria: Bearded vulture Bavaria disappears without a trace

Where is the female bearded vulture Bavaria? She was released into the wild in Berchtesgaden National Park in 2021 – but there has been no sign of her for months. The Bavarian State Association for Bird and Nature Conservation (LBV) is therefore calling on hikers, hunters, and other people in the mountains to keep a close eye out for bearded vultures in the sky and to photograph these magnificent animals as best as possible. However, the bird experts based in Hilpoltstein aren't particularly worried.

"Even though we haven't known Bavaria's whereabouts for six months, there's no evidence so far that anything has happened to her," explained project leader Toni Wegscheider. "However, since she reliably stayed in one region for years until spring, we want to leave no stone unturned to find a trace of her again, given the sudden lack of reports and sightings."

The bird actually seemed to have settled in the border region between Berchtesgaden and Salzburg. Until the beginning of the year, the project team was still regularly able to observe the female vulture between the Hagen Mountains, Hochkönig, and Tennen Mountains, as Wegscheider explained. Bavaria is now difficult to spot after her specially bleached identification feathers fell out, but she is clearly identifiable by her two light gray leg rings.

However, she hasn't been seen since her fourth birthday on March 11. Ten days later, her GPS tracker sent its last signal. There could be several reasons for this, Wegscheider explained. The technology could have failed, or the device could have fallen off in an area with no network reception.

Bavaria, along with Wally, was released into the wild in Berchtesgaden National Park in 2021. Since then, two more young birds have followed each year, reaching a wingspan of almost three meters when fully grown. These impressive birds were completely exterminated in the German Alps by humans almost 150 years ago because they were suspected of eating lambs and even small children. In reality, bearded vultures are scavengers and feed primarily on bones.