Soaring again in France: genetic monitoring to evaluate the reintroduction process of Eurasian Black Vultures

Subtitle:Genetic monitoring to evaluate the reintroduction process of Eurasian Black Vultures.

Huge losses in biodiversity became a key feature to describe what happened during the last two centuries. At present, many species are indeed at the brink of extinction, which led to a rise in conservation initiatives. Reintroductions have gained importance in many of such initiatives. Not all restorations however seemed to be as efficient as originally planned. Largely driven by vast investments on the field, vulture reintroduction programs can be regarded showcases on what is needed to make a conservation initiative into a success. Here we describe how “basic” genetic research increases our comprehension on factors contributing to the success of reintroduction projects with a special focus on the restoration of Cinereous vultures (Aegypius monachus) in France led by LPO and Vautour de Baronnies.
With the recent disappearance of “Central European” cinereous vulture colonies, both a critical actor within the ecosystem was lost but a new barrier for gene flow was also introduced. Accordingly the Iberian population got isolated from more eastern populations. Aiming to restore both processes, cinereous vultures originating from both Spanish rehabilitation centers and ex-situ breeding facilities, have been introduced in three different locations in France. Post-release monitoring as well as screening of wild born individuals (first breeding event in 1996) enables us now to test which birds (or individual characteristics of these birds) contribute most to the success of this project. Here feather samples of over 200 birds were used to study genetic relatedness as defined by twenty microsatellite markers. Whereas sibling relatedness gave extra insights on the species’ biology, parentage analysis revealed that both types of birds (i.e. rehabilitation and ex-situ captive bred) contributed equally within the first stages of the project. In concordance with what is known from juvenile dispersal in raptors, reintroduced males produced more offspring in France than their female counterparts. Apart from these crucial insights linked to the reintroduction itself, contrasts between reproductive success of locally hatched -and reintroduced birds pinpoints interesting opportunities for future research. In general the current results might help in deciding upon timing and location of future reintroductions