“Europe is home to four vulture species – the griffon, cinereous (black), Egyptian, and bearded vulture. Of these, the bearded vulture is the rarest. Over the last two centuries the European population of the species has declined sharply, mainly due to deliberate persecution, poisoning, and more recently collisions with power lines and a decreasing availability of food. By the early 20th century, it had disappeared from almost all areas where it was once present.

Since the late 1970s, however, wide-ranging conservation efforts have seen Europe’s bearded vultures make a remarkable comeback. Birds have been reintroduced to a growing number of European mountain ranges, initially in the Alps, and more recently in Andalucia and Picos de Europa in Spain, and the Grands Causses (Massif Central) and Dauphiné Alps in southeast France. The current European population of the species is estimated to be between 580 to 790 pairs, distributed between the Pyrenees, reintroduced populations in the Alps and the mountains of Andalucia, and isolated populations in Crete and Corsica.”

From Rewilding Europe.