The spacious aviary for the Griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) opened in the summer of 2006. Griffon vultures nest in colonies in Southern Europe, Asia and Africa. They live in dry, open landscapes from the lowlands to high up in the mountains. In the late 19th century, they were completely exterminated in many places in Europe. The main cause was human intervention – the birds were shot by poachers, they died from lack of food and they were killed by poisoned bait that was laid e.g. for wolves.
Thanks to breeding in human care, particularly in zoological gardens, it was possible to return the Griffon vulture to several areas of Southern Europe at the end of the 20th century., The natural rearing of a young bird by its parents, i.e. entirely without human aid, was successful at the Ostrava Zoo in 2007 for the first time in history.
