Lammergeyers or quebrantahuesos (bone breakers) as they are known in Spanish are the largest bird of prey in Eurasia, and Europe’s rarest vulture, around 70% of which live in the Aragonese Pyrenees, where the expedition takes place. They feed on marrow which they get by dropping bones repeatedly onto rocks, as their Spanish name aptly suggests. Their old name in English of ossifrage also refers to this habit. They are also known in English as bearded vultures. This is in reference to the ochre ruff of quills they sport around their necks. They are not born this way, but acquire the colour by actively seeking out iron-rich muds and rubbing their feathers in them. The theory goes that in a stand-off, the redder the feather, the tougher the lammergeyer.
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The Tatra chamois is a unique subspecies of mountain antelope in immediate danger of extinction (it is listed as “critically endangered” in the IUCN Red Data Book). There is an ongoing argument about whether the rapid population decline is due to predation, particularly by wolves and less so by bears, or brought about by other reasons such as human impact and/or global climate change. ‘Biosphere Slowakei’ weiterlesen
The Caprivi delta is little brother to the larger Okavango delta, yet the Caprivi delta sports the same amazing assemblage of African wildlife without the tourist crowds. In fact, although Mamili & Mudumu National Parks are directly adjacent to famous wildlife hotspots such as the Okavango and Chobe National Park in Botswana, they are rarely visited by foreigners at all and as such form one of the last true wilderness areas left in southern Africa. ‘Biosphere Namibia’ weiterlesen
