Das Projekt "Erhaltung des Bartgeiers - Genetische Aspekte" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Bündner Naturmuseum Chur durchgeführt. Reintroduction, i.e. the release of captive reared animals to the wild in an attempt to re-establish or augment a population, is an accepted tool in conservation of endangered species. Within the framework of the international project 'Reintroduction of the Bearded Vulture in the Alps' more than 60 captive reared birds were released since 1986 to reestablish the extinct population in the Alps. Because they are small, both the captive and the reintroduced population face the potentially disastrous risks of inbreeding and loss of genetic variability. To avoid inbreeding and to minimize the loss of genetic variability a genetic and demographic management is needed. Important information's for the planning and realization of such a management are the amount of genetic variability remaining in the captive and released populations, compared to large natural populations and the knowledge of the genealogical relationships among the individuals. In the project 'Reintroduction of the Bearded Vulture in the Alps' the genealogy of current individuals is available, but relationship among the 33 reproducing founders is almost completely unknown and there are no assessments of the genetic variability in natural and captive populations. The proposed project will provide the missing genetic data required for establishing a genetic management plan for the Bearded Vulture and will provide important tools for the long-term monitoring of the released population. In addition, the results gained in this study will improve Population Viability Analysis of Bearded Vulture populations. 1. Relatedness analysis of breeding network birds: Molecular genetic techniques (i.e micro satellites) will be used to provide information on the relative genetic similarity or distance among the founder individuals. 2. Comparison of genetic variability between natural populations and the breeding network: To determine whether there is a loss of genetic variability due to inbreeding and genetic drift, we will measure the genetic variability in both natural and captive populations of the Bearded Vulture using microsatelite markers. 3. Comparison of genetic variability between the original population in the Alps and the breeding network. All birds from the original population in the Alps are extinct.