A vulture which flew hundreds of miles from its home on a Serbian nature reserve has been flown home from Turkey by plane.
The one-year-old female griffon vulture named Dobrila from the nature reserve of Uvac was returned home in a joint effort by Serbia and Turkey.
It is not clear why Dobrila wandered so far away but officials say she was apparently unable to come back home.
“This is a very important moment for us,” said Serbian environment minister Goran Trivan. “The most important thing is that she is well.”
Turkey’s ambassador in Serbia Tanju Bilgic explained that Turkish soldiers first found Dobrila in late 2018 near the Syrian border when it was treated by vets and set free.
But he said shepherds soon after found the bird suffering from cold, about 72 miles) away, when it became clear she was unable to fly back.
“I am very happy to witness that our operation has been very successful,” he said.
