Within One Hour of Arrival: Two Northern Bald Ibises Shot in Italy
On 16 October, two of our project birds, Zoppo and Zaz, were illegally shot during their autumn migration in the Province of Sondrio in northern Italy – less than one hour after successfully crossing the Alps. Thanks to their GPS transmitters, the incident was detected immediately and authorities were notified at once, enabling rapid response measures.
Human-Led Migration 2025 – A Journey Full of Challenges and New Perspectives
The human-led migration of 2025 has come to an end.
After successfully leading a total of 68 young Northern Bald Ibises to their wintering grounds in Andalusia in 2023 and 2024, a highly motivated team once again set out on 19 August 2025 with 29 young birds from Taching am See, heading south.
Research for Animal Welfare
The use of GPS transmitters has been an indispensable tool in research and species conservation for many years. The Northern Bald Ibis population, which has been almost entirely equipped with transmitters for over a decade, provides valuable data for the protection of this endangered species.
Between Setbacks and Successes: The Northern Bald Ibises on Their Way to France
This year’s human-led migration is proving particularly eventful – marked by challenges, but also by encouraging successes. At Paterzell airfield we had to remain for 13 days. During this time, we tried to make up at least partially for the training deficit from the summer.
Human-Led Migration 2025: A Difficult Start with Open Options
On August 19 at 08:15 a.m., an aircraft took off from the Schröckenbauer farm in Taching am See (Upper Bavaria) together with 29 young Northern Bald Ibises. This marked the beginning of the 2025 human-led migration – the 18th migration of the project overall and the third with the destination Vejer de la Frontera in Andalusia.
Delayed Flight Training and Challenges in the Golf Course Habitat
This year’s flight training of our young Northern Bald Ibises in Taching am See (Upper Bavaria) is taking place under special conditions. The persistently unstable weather – with frequent wind and rain – has prevented many training sessions. Since our ultralight aircraft is particularly sensitive to wind and the training can only take place in the early morning hours, there is only a narrow time window for progress.
Biodiversity at risk: Strong opposition to controversial hunting bill in Italy
A broad coalition of 48 organisations, including environmental and animal welfare associations, scientific institutions and stakeholders from the sustainable economy sector, has spoken out against the hunting bill currently being debated in the Italian Senate.
Successful Breeding Season and New Developments Outside Established Breeding Areas
Breeding is taking place in all four breeding areas. In total, we are counting 25 nests in the breeding areas this year. In 2024, we also had 25 nests, from which 71 chicks fledged, corresponding to an average reproduction rate of 2.8 chicks per nest. This was a very successful breeding outcome, and we hope that the breeding pairs will be just as successful again this year.
Pioneering Success for Climate-Adaptive Species Conservation: The Return of Dr. Saurier
In 2023, the Waldrappteam guided a group of 35 young Northern Bald Ibises to Andalusia for the first time. The reason for this new migration route is climate change: due to increasingly prolonged warm periods, the migratory birds are now departing later in the autumn and are struggling more and more to cross the Alps due to the lack of thermal updrafts.
The case of the Northern Bald Ibis
Experts meet to discuss a new regulatory framework on environmental crimes: The Northern Bald Ibis as sentinels signaling wildlife poaching.