The first black vulture to be born in the Alentejo for decades has been announced by the League for the Protection of Nature.
There are two nesting pairs in the Moura area in Beja which arrived in March and have been monitored ever since to see if they successfully will breed.
This is all part of the LIFE-Natureza project for promotion of the habitat for the Iberian lynx and the black vulture in southeastern Portugal.
The League said today that this is "first offspring of black vulture on record in the Alentejo for more than 40 years, which confirms the long-awaited restoration of a breeding stock of the bird, critically endangered after several decades without reproducing at all in southern Portugal."
The birth of the chick was confirmed during the normal monitoring programme of the two breeding pairs.
There was one failed breeding attempt in 1996 but apart from that there have been no vulture chicks recorded since the revolution.
There are a few breeding pairs in the Tagus region and two further north in the Douro area making up a known breeding population of only 12 pairs.
The reproduction of the ‘critically endangered’ species has been helped by the engagement of the local council which owns the land, which installed the artificial nests and which has ensured the area has correctly been managed as a public amenity while also respecting the need to encourage vultures and other wildlife.
Other councils in the Alentejo region have installed artificial nests in carefully chosen locations to improve the chances of attracting pairs which will breed - it is all a part of the LIFE-Natureza project which to date has cost over €2 million.
