Euroenews.green writes that the young bald ibis don't know where they're supposed to fly without guidance from their elders, wild ancestors and thus, researchers have to assist them in their journey. Johannes Fritz, one of the biologists involved in the project, said that "we have to teach them the migration route."

The hermit ibis is a species that roamed around North Africa and most of Europe, but overhunting for the food industry led to its near extinction. While gone from Europe, a few groups managed to survive elsewhere and over the past two decades, experts at Waldrappteam, a conservation and research group based in Austria, brought the birds back on the Old Continent. Central Europe now enjoys a population of around 300 birds thanks to this effort, which started in 2002.

The first journeys were unsuccessful, because the young birds didn't know where to fly and couldn't find the migration destination in Tuscany, ultimately dying. Afterwards, researchers stepped in and helped the ibises find their way using light aircraft. This year marks the 17th assisted flight and the 2nd re-route to Spain, due to climate change.

Before embarking on the journey, the humans must first bond with the birds to earn their trust. This means that they are being fostered by scientists when they're only a few days old. "We feed them, we clean them, we clean their nests. We take good care of them and see that they are healthy birds. But also we interact with them", explains Barbara Steininger, a Waldrapp team foster mother.

Then, Fritz and other foster parents get on a lightweight aircraft powered by a fan and kept airborne by a parachute to fly alongside the ibises, shouting and waving at the birds to guide them.

With the first ibis having flown from Bavaria to Tuscany back in 2011, a route that's over 550 kilometers long, Fritz and his team hope that by 2028, the population of bald ibises will reach 350 individuals and will also become self-sustaining.

The new routes to Spain take up to 50 days to complete and are more complicated, since climate change pushes the migration further in the winter, but Johannes Fritz believes that the effort will be worth it, not only for this species, but also for other conservation and restauration initiatives.

Photo source: Waldrappteam