The young male bearded vulture -
named Larzac – that left the Grands Causses several weeks ago to make a
complete tour of the Netherlands, and that had disappeared in northern Germany, has now
been found dead.
After spending some time in the
Netherlands and Belgium, Larzac flew to northern Germany on the 2nd of July. He
reached the island of Fehman before he turned around and flew back to the
mainland. The last data from his GPS tag was received on the 4th of July, in
the Schleswig-Holstein region.
Local birders checked the place
of the last GPS position, but they could not find Larzac, nor the
transmitter. Soon
after, we have mobilized German colleagues to spread the news about Larzac´s
disappearance. Conservation organizations such as NABU, BUND,
OAG (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Ornithologische Schleswig-Holstein), and all
rehabilitation centers in the region were contacted. And the news spread
quickly. Several articles about Larzac were published in specialized and
generalist press - so much so that we have received two possible observations
of Larzac, on the 13th and 20th of July 2016. These observations were very
approximate and hardly credible but gave us hope.
Unfortunately, the corpse of
Larzac was found on Monday 25th of July 2016 by a NABU volunteer. The body was
underneath a non-electrified line (pending removal after being buried!).
Considering the state of decomposition of the corpse of Larzac, we can assume
that his death goes back to the beginning of July.
The rests are now being sent to
France for comprehensive post-mortem analysis, so that we try to determine the
exact cause of death.
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