Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Maison des Vautours, originally called Belvedere des Vautours, is a museum site located in the gorges of the Jonte, in Saint-Pierre-des-Tripiers (Lozère). Created to raise public awareness of the reintroduction of wild vultures, it has evolved to present the lifestyle of these birds and their ecological role. The site includes a museum, observation terraces and a projection room.

Vultures have inhabited the gorges of the Jonte for at least 70,000 years, living with humans until the 19th century. Their disappearance in France in the 1940s, due to hunting and poisoning, led to a reintroduction program. In 1981, some 60 wild vultures were released, marking a successful world premiere. The monk vultures (1992-2004) and bearded gypae (since 2012) followed.

The museum offers four sections: the relationship between vultures and humans, their biology, their disappearance, and their reintroduction. Terraces allow to observe raptors in freedom, equipped with GPS beacons to track their movements. A projection room broadcasts live images of nests and mass graves, supplemented by educational archives.

The financing of the site has been difficult: initially managed by SELO and the community of communes, it was purchased by private individuals in 2008 after financial losses. Today, he collaborates with the LPO Grands Causses and the Cevennes National Park. Approximately 26,000 annual visitors visited the site in 2000.

Four species of vultures now coexist: fawns, monks, percnoptera (revenues naturally in 1986) and gypae. The latter, reintroduced in 2012, feed on the ecosystem. The site plays a key role in raising awareness of biodiversity and raptor conservation.

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