100 Years Later, Vultures Are Making a Comeback

Romania is preparing to reintroduce vultures to the Carpathian Mountains, restoring a keystone species absent for a century and strengthening one of Europe’s most intact wilderness areas.

“They’re nature’s sanitary police,” said Christoph Promberger, co-founder of Foundation Conservation Carpathia. “They’ve been gone for 100 years; it’s time to bring them back.”

The plan focuses on reintroducing Griffon vultures through a two-year soft-release programme, with young birds acclimatised in large aviaries before release, beginning by the end of 2025. The Carpathians once hosted all four European vulture species, Griffon, Cinereous, Egyptian, and Bearded, before poisoning and persecution wiped them out in the early twentieth century. The project builds on earlier successes, including the release of 81 European bison, with around 30 calves now born in the wild, and growing beaver populations restoring river systems. Conservationists expect the vultures to reconnect Romania with thriving populations in neighbouring countries, boost biodiversity, and support rural livelihoods through ecotourism, reinforcing the Carpathians as one of Europe’s leading rewilding landscapes.