Skip to content
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Menu
  • Happy Health
  • Happy Mindset
  • Animal Wonders
  • About Us
    • Team
  • Subscribe
Happy News

The Greatest Wildlife Comeback Story Belongs To The Vultures

For most of the twentieth century, a bird with a nearly ten-foot wingspan was completely missing from the skies above the Alps, wiped out by hunters who mistakenly believed it was a danger to livestock and children. The bearded vulture, one of the most dramatic birds on Earth, was shot to extinction across the entire Alpine range, with the last known individual killed in 1913. What followed was one of the most ambitious wildlife rescue efforts the world has ever attempted. In the 1970s, a group of conservationists from countries across the Alps joined forces to bring the species back from the brink, building a captive breeding network and carefully selecting remote cliff sites where young birds could be released and learn to survive on their own.

The first birds were released into the wild in 1986, and the wait for results required extraordinary patience, since bearded vultures do not even begin breeding until they are several years old and often need multiple seasons before they successfully raise a chick. But the patience paid off. Today, more than 100 breeding pairs have established territories across the Alps, a milestone that would have seemed impossible to those who carried the first captive-bred birds up to those remote cliffs four decades ago. Scientists now estimate the population could double within the next ten years, and the species has recently returned to parts of Germany where it had been absent for over 140 years. The bearded vulture fills a role no other bird can: it uses its powerful stomach acid to digest bones that other scavengers cannot touch, making it a unique and essential part of the mountain ecosystem. What began as an act of faith by a handful of determined conservationists has grown into what many now call one of the greatest wildlife comeback stories in recorded history.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20260305-how-vultures-returned-from-alpine-extinction

PrevPreviousThis Texas Vending Machine Sells Original Art For One Dollar
NextScientists May Have Found a Way to Actually Reverse OsteoporosisNext

Recent Articles

Happy News

The Worlds Oldest Penguin Just Turned 38 And Her Birthday Cake Was Exactly What You Would Hope

May 2, 2026

A Humboldt penguin named Spneb has just celebrated her 38th birthday at Paradise Park Wildlife Sanctuary in Hayle, Cornwall, making her the oldest Humboldt penguin on the planet according to global zoo records, with a lifespan that has nearly doubled the species’ typical life expectancy in captivity. Keepers marked the

Read More
Happy News

Banksy Just Confirmed His Latest Masterpiece, And London Is Already Crowding Around It

May 1, 2026

Overnight on Wednesday 4/29/26, a mysterious bronze statue appeared on a traffic island in Waterloo Place, right in the heart of central London with no announcement, no explanation, just a signature scrawled on the plinth. By Thursday morning, crowds had gathered. By Thursday afternoon, Banksy confirmed it on Instagram with

Read More
Happy News

The FDA Fast-Tracked Psychedelic Medicines For Depression And PTSD

May 1, 2026

The Food and Drug Administration has fast-tracked three psychedelic medicines for review, issuing priority vouchers to companies studying psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, psilocybin for major depressive disorder, and methylone, a compound related to MDMA, for post-traumatic stress disorder, in a development that could put the first FDA-approved psychedelic medicines on

Read More
« Previous Next »
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Privacy Notice
  • Accessibility Notice
  • Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information
  • Unsubscribe
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
Copyright © 2026 HappyNews.