After a month of tagging and releasing twelve Rüppell's vultures at the Jbel Moussa Vulture Recovery Centre (CRV-Jbel Mousaa) in northern Morocco, very interesting results are beginning to emerge that will help unravel the mystery of the Mediterranean population of this species. Of the twelve specimens, only two have begun their journey southwards accompanying migrating griffon vultures. M52, which, after crossing Morocco and Algeria, is currently in north-eastern Mauritania, and M58, which continues its journey through central Morocco and is currently in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains, a stone's throw from the immensity of the Sahara Desert.

Two other specimens also left the Recovery Centre but did not begin their journey to the south. These are M57, which is linked to the area around the Tetouan landfill, and M54, which fell into the sea near the town of Castillejos, close to the border with Ceuta, although it was able to reach the shore by itself and fly normally. However, it soon had to be recaptured by CRV-Jbel Moussa staff because it had settled in a highly humanised area and its safety was at risk. It will be released again shortly.

A total of eight birds remain free in the surroundings of the CRV release point located on the Mediterranean coast of Morocco. Between October and December, thousands of juvenile European griffon vultures cross the Strait of Gibraltar to undertake a ‘trans-Saharan migration’. It is assumed that Rüppell's vultures will be carried along with them and return to their area of origin. However, due to poor weather conditions, this year there has been no crossing of large flocks of migrating griffon vultures during the release period for Rüppell's vultures. As a result of this ‘closure’ of the Strait, the young griffon vultures are concentrated on the northern shore, waiting to cross over to Africa. In this regard, it will be very interesting to see what the spotted vultures settled on the southern shore will do.

The results of this project, carried out jointly by the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Moroccan Department of Water and Forests, GREPOM-BirdLife, the IUCN Centre for Mediterranean Cooperation, the Migres Foundation, the Doñana Biological Station, and the NGOs GREFA and Wilder South will be essential for the conservation of this species of African vulture, complementing those carried out by other entities such as the Migres Foundation with the Inglorius Bustards entity or the University of Malaga, both in the south of the Iberian Peninsula.