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Returning a Mongolian Cinereous Vulture to the Wild

A long-awaited letter from the Mongolian Wildlife Science and Conservation Center arrived at the IFAW Beijing Raptor Rescue Center (IFAW BRRC) on February 5, 2007, and with it information about the fate of the Mongolian cinereous vulture that the center had rescued two weeks earlier.

This large bird had been found two weeks earlier by a farmer in the fields of Xiamagezhuang Village in the Fengrun District of Tangshan City in Hebei province. It was extremely weak and had already lost its ability to fly. After getting the phone call seeking help, the center staff brought him back to the IFAW BRRC and carefully examined him. They found that he was not suffering any major health problems; his extreme weakness likely was due to a long period of starvation.

Unlike the other rescued birds at the BRRC, this vulture had clipped to his wing an eye-catching yellow tag with the numbers 76 printed on it. On his left foot was an aluminum band with the English words: ORNITH. LAB, BIO. MONGOLIA, 209.

Coincidentally, the IFAW BRRC in early 2005 had received a calendar from Mongolia that had a photo of a cinereous vulture that also had a yellow tag clipped to its wing; the bird appeared very similar to the one rescued by the Raptor Center. Using the address on the calendar, the center sent a letter to the Mongolian side with some details about the basic condition of this vulture.

The answer BRRC received on February 5, 2007, confirming that this cinereous vulture was in fact from Mongolia. The letter said that he was banded in his nest in 2005 and at the time weighed 8,500 grams. The banding location was in southern Mongolia’s Ikh Nartiin Chulu Nature Reserved (longitude 45.64933 degrees North, latitude 108.66858 degree East).

This cinereous vulture was found in Fengrun County Tangshan City in China's Hebei province, which is about 1000 kilometers from the banding location. When he was found, the bird weighed only 6400 grams and was unable to fly any further. Under the loving and meticulous care of the center staff, the cinereous vulture has perceptibly recovered its strength, and its weight is back up to what was recorded when it was banded. On March 9, 2007, the Raptor Center successfully released the recovered cinereous vulture back into the wild in Beijing's Yanqing District.

The cinereous vulture is one of the largest raptors in China. The weight of a full-grown cinereous vulture can reach 10,000 grams. Its habitat is the grasslands of the high plateau and mountains, and its diet is animal carcasses, hence its reputation as the “road sweepers of the grasslands.” In Asia, the cinereous vulture is mainly found in central Asia and China; in winter, they sometimes migrate to northern India, Korea and the far east of Russia to spend the winter. Due to shortages of food and suitable nesting sites, as well as to hunting and destruction of habitat, the population of cinereous vulture worldwide is dropping precipitously. It has been listed in the Red data books of all range counties, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Since the beginning of this winter, IFAW BRRC has received three sick or injured cinereous vultures, including this cinereous vulture from Mongolia. The other two were found separately in Beijing’s mountain areas.>