Instead of being incinerated or dumped illegally, dead cattle is being "gifted" to griffon vultures

Photo: RINA

In the Special Nature Reserve Pestersko Polje in Sjenica, a large feeding ground has been created for griffon vultures, where over 20 tons of animal waste have been taken since February of this year. This feeding ground is one of the most modern in the Balkans, and in a short time, great savings have been made in terms of recycling of livestock waste.

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"The Pester (Plateau) area is rich in cattle, and before the feeding ground was built, there was a big problem because cattle breeders had nowhere to dispose of dead animals. They would mostly end up in illegal, unsanitary landfills. Now we transport the carcasses to the feeding ground and in that way griffon vultures are provided with food, which is especially important during the winter period when food sources in nature are much reduced. The benefits from this ground are extremely big and important for cattle breeders, as well as for griffon vultures, but also for the local self-administration," Milorad Babic, who guards the protected area, told RINA.

There are currently between 200 and 250 pairs of griffon vultures in the territory of the municipality of Sjenica, which makes this bird population extremely dense in the area. A team from the Foundation for the Protection of Birds has visited the Special Nature Reserve Pestersko Polje and the feeding ground, and future cooperation on monitoring of griffon vulture has been agreed with the manager.

"This is a great example for other municipalities that have problems with recycling livestock waste. In Serbia, 273,000 tons of livestock waste are generated annually, of which less than 20 percent end up in incinerators, while the rest 'disappears' in informal, illegal and unregulated landfills and is inaccessible to vultures. Maybe 'nature's cleaners' - griffon vultures - can be a part of a solution to make Serbian cleaner?," said the Foundation for the Protection of Birds of Prey.

(Telegraf.rs)