Geier Lower Austria

Vultures live in open landscapes with strong thermal updrafts. The bearded vulture, Bartgeier, is tied to high Alpine altitudes above the tree line and uses steep cliffs as breeding sites. The griffon vulture, Gänsegeier, breeds in cliffs and gorges and forages over open pasture. As a breeding bird it is extinct in Germany and Austria, but it appears increasingly as a summer visitor in the Alps and in southern Germany. The cinereous vulture, Mönchsgeier, is currently not a regular guest in the DACH region. Its European stronghold lies in Spain and in the Balkans.

All vultures are pure scavengers and fulfil an important role in the sensitive ecosystems of the high mountains. Bearded vultures specialise in bones, griffon vultures feed mainly on the soft tissue of large carcasses. The reintroduction of the bearded vulture in the Alps, started in 1986 in the Hohe Tauern National Park, is considered one of Europe's most successful species recovery projects. From the first releases an Alpine-wide population of several hundred birds has grown, with established breeding pairs in Austria and Switzerland.

For hunters, vultures are a direct call to handle gralloch and carcass remains responsibly. One of the greatest dangers to the returning populations is lead poisoning through ammunition residues in carcasses and hunting waste. Hunters who switch to lead-free ammunition and place gralloch sites so that large raptors can feed on them safely make a direct contribution to the survival of these species. Sightings of large vultures should be observed calmly, never disturbed, and reported to the regional monitoring bodies. Any deliberate killing or disturbance is a criminal offence.