July 23, 2026 – Bulgaria’s population of Egyptian vultures had its best breeding season in nearly 20 years, with 35 hatched chicks recorded, according to the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds.
The number of hatched chicks is the highest recorded since 2008, with one breeding pair of Egyptian vultures (Neophron percnopterus) still incubating, the BSPB said on July 23. The number of breeding pairs in Bulgaria remained broadly stable at 36 pairs, one fewer than in 2025 and the same as in 2024.
The breeding season in the Eastern Rhodopes mountains “seems to be extraordinary,” with ten pairs producing broods of two chicks, according to the bird-protection group. By contrast, the season in northern Bulgaria has been the worst since the BSPB kicked off its Egyptian vulture-monitoring programme in 2003, with only three hatchlings.
Bulgaria’s population of Egyptian vultures has gradually increased in the past six years after decades of decline across the Balkans since the 1980s, according to the BSPB.
“The increased survival of both adults and juveniles is the most plausible explanation of the firm resistance of the Egyptian vulture population especially in the Eastern Rhodopes,” the BSPB said.
The BSPB credited the population’s recovery to large-scale conservation measures, including two European-funded projects to tackle threats at the level of the Balkans and the birds’ migratory flyway, as well as a restocking programme in Bulgaria.
Egyptian vultures breeding in the Balkans migrate to Africa and the Middle East for the winter season. Measures along the flyway to increase survival have focused on issues such as electrocution and bird collisions at power infrastructure, as well as reducing poisoning incidents.
The BSPB counted 29 breeding pairs of Egyptian vultures in Bulgaria’s Rhodopes mountains, and seven pairs in the north of the country.
Seven individuals released as part of the Bulgarian restocking programme, six females and one male, have occupied breeding territories, the group said. A total of 25 birds have been released under the programme since 2023.