The first two Northern Bald Ibises arrived at their breeding site in Burghausen, Bavaria. They left from their wintering site Laguna die Orbetello in southern Tuscany a few days ago and covered the distance of around 1,000 km in a few days. Further birds are on the way. Nonetheless, the COVID-19 pandemic significantly impairs the European reintroduction project.
Our LIFE+ project was completed on schedule at the end of 2019. We were able to achieve and even exceed the main objectives of the project. As of the end of 2019, the wild Northern Bald Ibis population comprised 140 birds, which is 18% more than defined in the original project objective (119 wild birds).
In spring 2019, the United Nations World Biodiversity Council presented alarming numbers of species extinction. Of estimated eight million plant and animal species on our planet, around one million are at risk of extinction. Now, the Species Survival Commission Leaders of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) direct the Abu Dhabi call to the world community. They urgently appeal for effective action to address the unprecedented, unsustainable and growing impacts on wild species from human activities.
Unfortunately, in these very difficult, sometimes almost apocalyptic times, we cannot avoid informing about negative news.
As already reported, the start of the autumn migration of our NBIs was delayed this year. On November 22nd, our birds north of the Alps and in Carinthia began to migrate towards south independently. In Carinthia, migration stopped again, probably due to persistent bad weather with fog and poor visibility. But on December 11th, the first day with good flight weather, nine young birds and three adults started from Ferlach in Carinthia and crossed the Loiblpass to Slovenia. Then they headed towards southwest to the coast at Rovinj in Istria. From there they followed the Croatian coastline further south to Zadar.
A completely different perspective on bird flight: This year, four Northern Bald Ibises from the Zurich Zoo were hand-raised by Katharina Neugebauer and Frederik Amann. At the end of July, the four birds and their foster parents moved with to Seekirchen am Wallersee in Austria. Since July, a wind tunnel specially adapted to the requirements of NBIs has been set up in an abandoned stable.
Worldwide, one million animal and plant species are threatened by extinction. In the struggle for biodiversity, conservationists are developing increasingly unusual methods. Successfully?
This year, for the first time, 18 young Northern Bald Ibises which grew up in Tierpark Rosegg in Carinthia were equipped with GPS devices and left outside the aviary; the remaining individuals of this sedentary zoo colony were, as usual, transferred to the aviary at the end of September. Five of our adult experienced migratory birds were transferred to the free-flying juveniles, hoping that they’ll guide the young ones to the common wintering area in southern Tuscany.
Sonic is a two-year old-old female Northern Bald Ibis; she belongs to the first generation of birds that were trained in Überlingen at Lake Constance in 2017 and were guided by ultralight aircrafts to the wintering area in Tuscany. In 2020, when these birds are sexually mature, they will return to Überlingen independently to breed.
During the last season, a Finnish media team produced a film which was shown on January 28, 2020, at DOCPOINT, the biggest Scandinavian documentary film festival. It was a great success. Maria Gullsten, the producer from Flatlight Creative House, aims to present the documentary also at other international film festivals.
During the last few days winter was coming to Austria, which also affected the Northern Bald Ibises from the breeding areas Burghausen and Kuchl, most of which are still staying north of the Alps. Since the temperatures during the day are usually well above zero and the cold weather front, according to forecasts, soon gives way to milder weather, the birds are not acutely endangered. They are currently in good condition, feeding them is not required.
The current LIFE+ project ends in 2019. We hope to continue the reintroduction as part of a second LIFE project from 2021 onwards; the application process is already ongoing. However, we do not want to pause the project in 2020 so as not to jeopardize the successful course of the reintroduction. For 2020, we still need another € 200,000 to fully implement the project. We would very much appreciate any financial support!
For any further questions, do not hesitate to contact the project manager Johannes Fritz: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
