The Griffon vulture was once a widespread species across the region of Southeast Europe, but it is now endangered and in some parts is completely extinct. In the Balkan Peninsula the largest Griffon vulture inland population inhabits the territory of Serbia. We present, for the first time, the genetic data of this valuable population that could be a source for future reintroduction programs planned in South-eastern Europe. To characterize the genetic structure of this population we used microsatellite markers from ten loci. Blood samples were collected from 57 chicks directly in the nests during the ongoing monitoring program. We performed a comparative analysis of the obtained data with the existing data from three native populations from French Pyrenees, Croatia, and Israel. We have assessed the genetic differentiation between different native populations and determined the existence of two genetic clusters that differentiate the populations from the Balkan and Iberian Peninsulas. Furthermore, we analysed whether the recent bottleneck events influenced the genetic structure of the populations studied, and we found that all native populations experienced a recent bottleneck event, and that the population of Israel was the least affected. Nevertheless, the parameters of genetic diversity suggest that all analysed populations have retained a similar level of genetic diversity and that the Griffon vulture population from Serbia exhibits the highest value for private alleles. The results of this study suggest that the Griffon vulture populations of the Balkan Peninsula are genetically differentiated from the populations of the Iberian Peninsula, which is an important information for future reintroduction strategies.

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Understanding the movement pattern and ranging behavior of the Griffon vulture population in Serbia is of great importance for prioritizing conservation action. In 2011, an immature vulture was the first bird to be equipped with a satellite transmitter in Serbia. Our study aims to define the vulture?s foraging areas, home ranges, core and basic areas, and to investigate movement patterns across different years and seasons by analyzing satellite telemetry data. We tracked the movements of the vulture for over three years and obtained satellite tracking data for 34 bird-months (1976 GPS fixes) between October 2011 and July 2014. We determined that the overall foraging area of the vulture across the entire study period was 11654.34 km2. The overall area used by the vulture was larger during spring and summer than during winter periods. Combined ranges across all years identified one basic area and its associated core area around the Uvac colony and nearby feeding site; we identified three core areas in its proximity. This study showed that areas of traditional stock-raising practices are important vulture foraging areas and that supplementary feeding sites have a vital role. Our maps can be used for future planning of vulture conservation measures.

Great cormorants (Phalacrocorax carbo) are piscivorous birds, and as apex predators they accumulate high levels of contaminants from the aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, we analyzed distribution of Al, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn in ten tissues (muscle, liver, kidney, spleen, gizzard, heart, skin, lard, breast feathers, and remiges) of the Great cormorants in the Marin Sprud locality, the Danube River, Serbia. Concentrations of elements in tissues were assessed by using inductively coupled plasma optical spectrometry. Linear discriminant analysis indicates that breast feathers and remiges have a high bioaccumulation potential for heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Sr, and Zn). Those tissues had the highest concentrations of lead (Pb) (2.179 ± 0.742; 0628 ± 0.282). Maximum concentrations of mercury (Hg) were detected in liver (30.673 ± 14.081), followed by kidney, for the same element (17.409 ± 5.676), respectively. The overall maximum metal accumulation was observed in breast feathers and remiges, followed by liver and kidney, whereas the minimum values were observed in muscle, skin, and lard. The greatest concentrations of Cr, Ni, Pb, Sr, Zn, and Al were detected in feather tissues. Our study confirms that great cormorant is a good indicator species for monitoring of pollution of river and wetland ecosystems.