Meet Berlin, a black vulture
He was born in Berlin's Tierpark a year ago, and this spring he became part of the Bulgarian vulture reintroduction program. In May, he was released into the wild, equipped with a B1T ring and a state-of-the-art GPS transmitter.
Berlin used his new freedom in an unusual way for a vulture and flew north, first to Romania, and then to the fields of central Ukraine. The thing is that in Europe these birds mostly inhabit mountainous regions (they are also found in Crimea), but Cherkasy is not their habitat at all. But Berlin did not stop and flew all the way to Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region, where he ate for some time at a landfill.
Unfortunately, disaster struck soon after - the bird injured its leg (possibly an attack by a stray dog), and then somehow ended up on the ground in a very inconvenient place, in a small valley among tall reeds south of Bila Tserkva. The vulture could not fly and simply got stuck there at one point.
Thanks to the GPS transmitter, the Bulgarian guardians of Berlin quickly realized that something was wrong and began to look for contacts of Ukrainian ornithologists and birders. Having heard about this story, Alina Rozhkova and I immediately volunteered to help and on the morning of July 28, having the exact coordinates, we set out to find the vulture. We struggled through the long, very wet reeds after the rain, but we quickly found the bird. It was exhausted and dehydrated, which did not prevent it from attacking with its powerful beak when we tried to pick it up.
Finally, we gave him water to drink and moved him to an open area, where he pondered for a few minutes whether he would be able to fly. But the bird was still too weak, so we packed him in a Nova Poshta box and took him to Kyiv for a veterinary examination.
Fortunately, he has no fractures or critical injuries, but there is a worrying wound on his forearm. After the examination, the bird moved to a new temporary home - Sadyba Nyushanik. Help for Birds. Public organization. There, he is already being treated for his wound, given antibiotics and fed his favorite food - meat and dead animals (he has already eaten a whole rabbit).
If the leg heals and the bird looks healthy, Berlin can be released back into the wild and hopefully the experience gained will help him not get into trouble again. For now, you can follow the vulture's progress on the Nyushanik estate's Instagram page.
Just look at how beautiful and majestic this bird is. The black vulture is the largest bird of prey in Europe, with a wingspan of up to 3 meters. They live up to 30 years in the wild, so Berlin is still quite young. I hope he will still have the opportunity to fly and travel, and ideally he will now fly towards the Balkans, where the vulture population is currently growing and the conditions are good for them.
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