Cyprus Releases Endangered Vultures to Boost Population

A griffon vulture is seen in an acclimatization aviary near the village of Korfi, Cyprus September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A griffon vulture is seen in an acclimatization aviary near the village of Korfi, Cyprus September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
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Cyprus Releases Endangered Vultures to Boost Population

A griffon vulture is seen in an acclimatization aviary near the village of Korfi, Cyprus September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou
A griffon vulture is seen in an acclimatization aviary near the village of Korfi, Cyprus September 28, 2022. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou

Conservationists in Cyprus released griffon vultures into the wild on Friday, in the latest attempt to boost a critically endangered population of the scavenger birds.
Once thriving, the number of vultures on the east Mediterranean island is the smallest in Europe as accidental poisoning or changing farming techniques have left them short of food.
Fourteen vultures from Spain were released into the hills north of the city of Limassol on Friday, bringing the vulture population now to "about" 29, Reuters said.
Project coordinators BirdLife, the island's Game Service, the Vulture Conservation Foundation and Terra Cypria released 15 griffons into the wild last year. Of those, 11 have survived.
Conservationists have in the past made several attempts to boost the vulture population, including importing birds from Crete. Surveys have shown that without timely intervention to address the causes of vulture deaths the birds could become extinct on the island within 15 years, the organizations said.
"Losing a vulture is frequent, and that is something that is particularly worrying," conservationists said in a statement.
Considered a natural garbage disposal unit, vultures feed off dead animal carcasses, which is an effective way to prevent the spread of disease.
But they can die if they feed off a carcass which had itself been poisoned - the fox, considered a threat by some farmers to livestock, is frequently targeted. The use of poisonous baits in Cyprus is illegal but is known to occur.
A number of the birds were fitted with satellite trackers a day before their release on Thursday to monitor their movements.
All vultures released in the past year were donated by the Extremadura region of Spain, which hosts 90-95% of Europe's vulture population. Another 15 vultures will arrive and be released next year.



Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Latest Tests Show Seine Water Quality Was Substandard When Paris Mayor Took a Dip

 Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Boats carrying members of delegations sail along the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

Tests results released Friday showed the water quality in the River Seine was slightly below the standards needed to authorize swimming — just as the Paris Olympics start.

Heavy rain during the opening ceremony revived concerns over whether the long-polluted waterway will be clean enough to host swimming competitions, since water quality is deeply linked with the weather in the French capital.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo took a highly publicized dip last week in a bid to ease fears. The Seine will be used for marathon swimming and triathlon.

Daily water quality tests measure levels of fecal bacteria known as E. coli.

Tests by monitoring group Eau de Paris show that at the Bras Marie, E. coli levels were then above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 milliliters determined by European rules on June 17, when the mayor took a dip.

The site reached a value of 985 on the day the mayor swam with Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet and the top government official for the Paris region, Marc Guillaume, joined her, along with swimmers from local swimming clubs.

At two other measuring points further downstream, the results were below the threshold.

The statement by Paris City Hall and the prefecture of the Paris region noted that water quality last week was in line with European rules six days out of seven on the site which is to host the Olympic swimming competitions.

It noted that "the flow of the Seine is highly unstable due to regular rainfall episodes and remains more than twice the usual flow in summer," explaining fluctuating test results.

Swimming in the Seine has been banned for over a century. Since 2015, organizers have invested $1.5 billion to prepare the Seine for the Olympics and to ensure Parisians have a cleaner river after the Games. The plan included constructing a giant underground water storage basin in central Paris, renovating sewer infrastructure, and upgrading wastewater treatment plants.