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Belvedere Des Vautours in Saint-Pierre-des-Tripiers en Lozère

Sites - Attractions
Volerie de rapaces

Belvedere Des Vautours in Saint-Pierre-des-Tripiers

    Le Truel
    48150 Saint-Pierre-des-Tripiers

Timeline

Antiquité
Haut Moyen Âge
Moyen Âge central
Bas Moyen Âge
Renaissance
Temps modernes
Révolution/Empire
XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
0
100
1900
2000
70 000 ans
Presence of vultures
Années 1940
Vultures disappear
1970
First attempt at reintroduction
1981-1986
Successful reintroduction of wild vultures
1992-2004
Reintroduction of monk vultures
2008
Private purchases
2012-2021
Reintroduction of bearded gypae
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Key figures

Frères Terrasse - Actors of reintroduction Belvedere named in their honour.
Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO) - Environmental organization Reintroduction programme holder.
Parc national des Cévennes - Institutional partner Collaborate in the management of mass graves.

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.

External links

Conditions of visit

  • Conditions de visite : Ouvert toute l'année
  • Ouverture : Conditions de visites sur le site officiel ci-dessus