{"id":48082,"date":"2025-07-06T11:59:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-06T08:59:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milvus.ro\/an-incredible-journey-and-a-successful-rescue-mission-in-the-danube-delta\/"},"modified":"2025-07-06T13:24:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-06T10:24:26","slug":"an-incredible-journey-and-a-successful-rescue-mission-in-the-danube-delta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milvus.ro\/en\/an-incredible-journey-and-a-successful-rescue-mission-in-the-danube-delta\/","title":{"rendered":"An Incredible Journey and a Successful Rescue Mission in the Danube Delta!"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We\u2019d like to share with you the story of Dryan<\/strong>, a cinereous vulture (Aegypius monachus)<\/strong> in his third calendar year, who, after an astonishing journey of over 10,000 km<\/strong>, found himself in trouble \u2014 but was fortunately rescued successfully!<\/p>\n

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Who is Dryan?<\/strong>
Dryan is a young cinereous vulture who arrived in Bulgaria from Spain and was released on April 19 near Kotel, as part of a repopulation program. Since then, he has covered impressive distances and visited 14 countries<\/strong>: Bulgaria, Romania (where he set a record by visiting six times<\/strong>!), Moldova, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.<\/p>\n

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Trouble in the Delta:<\/strong>
Dryan arrived in the Danube Delta on June 30<\/strong>, but on July 1<\/strong>, due to a miscalculated landing, he ended up in a dense reedbed from which he couldn\u2019t escape. Since the habitat type wasn\u2019t clearly visible on the map, the search team only set out on July 3<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Rescue Mission Timeline:<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Day 1 (July 3):<\/strong>
A joint team from ARBDD<\/strong> (Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve Authority) and INCDD<\/strong> (National Institute for Research and Development of the Danube Delta) went to the area, but due to the thick vegetation, they couldn\u2019t reach the bird. Our local nature photographer friends and local fishermen also tried, without success. Dryan couldn\u2019t be located even with drones due to the density of the reeds.<\/p>\n

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Day 2 (July 4):<\/strong>
A team of four firefighters from ISU Cri\u0219an<\/strong>, and later a local from Mila 23<\/strong> (organized by Iliu\u021b\u0103 Goean<\/strong>), approached the site from two different directions. Unfortunately, they couldn\u2019t locate the bird before nightfall.<\/p>\n

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Day 3 (July 5):<\/strong>
A team of four veterinarians from Tulcea<\/strong> and an expanded team of two people from Mila 23<\/strong> searched in parallel. Eventually, Dryan was found dehydrated<\/strong>, and he was immediately transported to a veterinary clinic for further evaluation.<\/p>\n

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A huge THANK YOU to everyone who took part in this heroic rescue mission!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Without your help, Dryan\u2019s fate could have been much worse!<\/p>\n

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