Just one day after the bearded vulture Sisi, little Nepomuk took off on his first flight in the Berchtesgaden National Park. The young bird took to the air unexpectedly early, as the Bavarian nature conservation association LBV announced on Wednesday. “Our first male in the project is just 107 days old and thus one of the youngest vultures on the maiden flight in the more than 30-year history of the European reintroduction program,” said LBV project manager Toni Wegscheider.
The day before, Sisi, who was a week older, swung into the air for the first time – she was already unusually fast with it. On average, young bearded vultures make their first flight around the 120th day of life. Nobody expected Nepomuk to venture out of its niche at this point, said National Park Director Roland Baier.
On May 24th, Nepomuk and Sisi were released into the wild in Klausbachtal. They come from neighboring Austria. It was the third release of initially flightless bearded vultures in the national park. The birds had been extinct in Germany for more than 140 years. Four animals have previously been released since 2021: Wally, Bavaria, Dagmar and Recka.
With a wingspan of up to 2.90 metres, the bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus) is one of the largest flying birds in the world. As part of a large-scale breeding project, young bearded vultures have been released into the wild throughout the Alps since 1986.
