A leading Greek wildlife protection group says it has been receiving up to five exhausted young vultures on the southern island of Crete to take care of on a daily basis amid high summer temperatures.
The Anima organisation said in a social media post that more than 30 “tired and dehydrated little vultures” have been brought to its volunteers for care in the past two weeks, and appealed for donations or other financial support for its work.
Crete is a major population center for the Eurasian griffon vulture that mostly inhabits mountainous areas, while an estimated 50 breeding pairs live on the Greek mainland. The large birds have a wingspan of up to 2.8 meters and can weigh more than 10 kilograms.
Anima said that it provides intensive care for the injured vultures brought to it, and then takes them to a facility in the mountains near the town of Messolonghi in central Greece where they spend at least six months before being returned to the wild.
There have been several reported incidents in recent weeks of exhausted vultures landing on beaches or even a parked aircraft on Crete.
