‘Back from the Brink’: Bulgaria’s Endangered Griffon Vultures Make Stunning Recovery

Jerusalem, 14 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Sofia (BTA) – During the traditional census of griffon vultures in the Balkans, the largest number of these endangered birds in recent decades was reported in Bulgaria. On November 22, 2025, a team from the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), the Rewilding Rhodopes Foundation, and volunteers counted 381 griffon vultures in the Eastern Rhodopes, compared to a local population of about 20 birds and three nesting pairs 40 years ago.

As a result of years of efforts by experts and volunteers and support from local communities, the griffon vulture is gradually recovering its population, and today the Arda River valley is home to one of the largest natural colonies of the species in the Balkans, the BSPB announced.

In the reintroduction sites in Kresna, Kotel, Vratsa, Central Balkan Range, and Sliven, teams from Green Balkans, the Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna, the Society for the Protection of Birds of Prey, Central Balkan National Park, the EcoObshtestvo Foundation, Vrachanski Balkan Nature Park, and Sinite Kamani Nature Park have identified 273 birds, bringing the total number of griffon vultures in Bulgaria to a record 654 individuals.

Incomplete data from Greece currently indicates that 112 griffon vultures have been identified there, 479 in Serbia, and 30 in North Macedonia, suggesting a total population of the species in the Balkans of at least 1,275 birds, the BSPB said.

Twenty organizations and institutions participated in the Balkan census, with a total of 109 experts and volunteers, of whom 59 were based in Bulgaria alone.