Griffon vultures have recovered strongly across Iberia but face ongoing welfare threats from illegal poisoning, wind turbine collisions, and lead poisoning from carcasses killed with lead ammunition.
Vultures that ingest poisoned carcasses — typically strychnine or carbofuran — experience acute toxic death with convulsions. Mass poisoning events affecting dozens of vultures simultaneously represent catastrophic welfare events in terms of scale and suffering. Wind turbine strikes cause acute traumatic death or severe injuries requiring rehabilitation — rotors travelling at high speed cause catastrophic injury with no chance of survival in most collisions. Lead-poisoned vultures experience progressive neurological deterioration over weeks before death. Rehabilitated collision survivors rarely make full recovery.