Egyptian Vulture 'Tobia' makes it off the island, reaches Algeria

Part of a captive breeding programme, the juvenile Egyptian Vulture continued on his migration without any attempts on his life

1 October 2015, 1:02pm

1 min read

Four days after leaving Malta, where he rested overnight, Tobia the Egyptian Vulture arrived in Algeria after a pitstop in Misurata, Libya.

Tobia and Sara, another Egyptian Vulture, are part of an international project, undertaken in Italy, which aims to breed the endangered birds in captivity, to later release their offspring into the wild.

Before release, the juveniles are tagged with a GPS transmitter so that their migration path can be monitored. The project is coordinated by the Italian Ministry for the Environment, CERM, the Endangered Raptors Centre, the Vulture Conservation Foundation and several zoos in Europe.

When contacted by the Federation for Hunting and Conservation – Malta (FKNK), Guido Ceccolini, CERM’s President, was full of praise and thanked the FKNK hunter members on whose hunting grounds Tobia had rested while on Malta. These FKNK members also watched over Tobia as instructed by the FKNK.

Tobia and Sara's migration route after being released from Calabria

Ceccolini further informed the FKNK that at present, another three Egyptian vultures, part of the same project and named Karel, Carmen and Aneta, are also migrating.