The city of Burghausen has been committed to the Northern Bald Ibis since 2004. The roughly geese-sized wading bird was hunted so heavily in Central Europe in the 17th century that it became extinct here. Various reintroduction attempts are currently underway to re-establish the northern bald ibis as a breeding bird in Europe.
The EU project "Life" works with volunteers from Austria, Italy and Germany to protect the northern bald ibis and to prevent the illegal shooting of migratory birds, especially in Italy.
The city of Burghausen is actively involved in the EU project: the wild ibises breed in niches on the castle wall by the powder tower. Together with volunteers and employees of the Burghausen Environment Agency, a member of the Northern Bald Ibis team takes care of the breeding colony. Northern bald ibis are social birds that form colonies of several dozen birds.
From April to August, the animals stay in Burghausen, where they raise their brood. Interested observers can follow the rearing of the young birds at the site. At the beginning of August, the northern bald ibis leave their breeding grounds. However, they often remain in the northern foothills of the Alps for several weeks to feed on the rich hay meadows there. During this time, the birds sporadically return to Burghauen. In September they migrate south. To protect the colony, all northern bald ibises are equipped with GPS tracking devices so that they can be tracked and their position determined at any time during their flight to Tuscany.
Contact
Contact Person
Oliver Habel
Employees of the Waldrapp team
Phone: + 49 151 223 7492 0
burghausen@waldrapp.eu
project profile
The European Union is funding the reintroduction of the northern bald ibis as part of the LIFE+ funding program. The project is based on the many years of experience of the Waldrappteam species protection project. A successful course of the project could serve as a model for the conservation and settlement of other endangered migratory bird species. The project sponsor is the Austrian association Waldrappteam.
More information can be found on the website of the Waldrapp team.
With the project, the initiators are pursuing the goal of reintroducing northern bald ibises to Central Europe as native migratory birds.
It is possible to sponsor one of the Northern Bald Ibises for a calendar year. If you want to know more about it, you can find detailed information on the Waldrapp team's website.
Visitors can observe the northern bald ibis at the breeding site in Burghausen.
With the "Animal Tracker" app, you can follow the birds' journeys to their winter or summer quarters.
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