Biblically mislabelled, Israel's griffon vultures get new lease of life

A griffon vulture spreads it wings bearing its tracking tags as it prepares to fly after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

The griffon vulture is not only ungainly, smelly and endangered: it is also often denied its biblical fame by being mixed up with the eagle.

But for a network of Israeli conservationists, the bird still has pride of place in the land whose ancient prophets saw in its soaring flight a metaphor for religious exaltation.

Hit by accidental poisoning and urbanisation, Israel's griffon vulture population has fallen to around 180 in the wild, says Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

A griffon vulture is seen after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

So as part of the 'Under our Wing' project run by his organisation and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, the next generation is being reared in captivity before being let loose in the desert with tracking tags.

"We raise the vulture chicks... and after several years we release them to nature," Miller said.

Named "nesher" in Hebrew, the bird has often been mislabelled in scriptures, notably in the King James version of the English Bible, which in Exodus describes God as bearing the Israelites on eagles' rather than vultures' wings.

A griffon vulture bearing a tracking tag as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, stands next to its nest where it is brooding over an egg, in a cliff near Sde Boker in southern Israel February 20, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

According to Israel's Biblical Museum of Natural History, many people still feel as uncomfortable as those 17th-century translators did in identifying as a vulture a bird described in noble terms by scripture.

"The vulture is (nowadays) commonly regarded as a loathsome creature," its website explains.

"But in the Middle East, it is the griffon vulture that is the king of birds."

A conservationist holds the head of a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

(Writing by Dan Williams; editing by John Stonestreet)

A griffon vulture flies over an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A conservationist from Ramat Gan's Safari Zoo gestures while releasing a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, weighs a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, holds a griffon vulture chick before relocating it to Hai-Bar Nature Reserve in Haifa, two-days after it hatched at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem May 24, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Griffon vultures, are seen inside a breeding cage at the Hai-Bar Nature Reserve in the Carmel mountains where stages of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, take place, in Haifa, northern Israel May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A conservationist holds the head of a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A conservationist draws blood from a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A griffon vulture lands near a wolf while it drags meat in an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A conservationist gestures while releasing a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Griffon vultures, some with their tracking tags visible, stand together in an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A griffon vulture flies over a valley after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A griffon vulture flies after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, holds a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Animal bones are seen near an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the griffon vulture, a protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A griffon vulture lands in an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Griffon vultures fly above an area, used as a feeding station, where carrion is left by conservationists as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, near Sde Boker in southern Israel May 14, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Yigal Miller, manager of programs for endangered raptors at Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, uses binoculars as a griffon vulture stands atop of a breeding cage at the Hai-Bar Nature Reserve in the Carmel mountains where stages of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, take place, in Haifa, northern Israel May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

Griffon vultures stand inside a nesting box at the Hai-Bar Nature Reserve in the Carmel mountains where stages of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, take place, in Haifa, northern Israel May 27, 2020. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

A conservationist performs a test on a griffon vulture after it was temporarily captured as part of a national project to protect and increase the population of the protected bird in Israel, at a makeshift data-collecting station near Sde Boker in southern Israel October 29, 2019. REUTERS/Amir Cohen