“Vulture man” is in fact named Goran Susic. The tourist board in London tipped
me off about his work at a tiny eco centre on a hilltop in a village called
Beli. From a crumbling old school house that was occupied by Italian forces
under Mussolini, Susic runs an operation that helps conserve a surprisingly
large local population of griffen vultures; which have become a tourist
attraction since he set up his centre in 1993, bringing a trickle of
visitors (and tourist visitor cash) to his out of the way operation.
A man with a greying beard, a t-shirt with a picture of a vulture on it and
the slogan “WILDLIFE”, cargo trousers and sandals is sitting at a desk in
the front room next to shelves full of National Geographics. It is Goran.
“Ah you have arrived!” he exclaims. “You have come to see our biodiversity!
I will show you the biodiversity of the vultures!”
Goran loves his vultures. “It is the poetry of their flight: the poetry!” he
says, leading us past a group of Italian children who are visiting to help
repair stone walls and clear pathways on a series of nature walks. We enter
a room with a large stuffed griffen vulture hanging gruesomely from the
ceiling.
We are informed that the vultures can weigh 8-15kg and have wingspans of
240-280cm. “They can starve for up to three weeks and lose half their body
weight, but then they must eat,” says Goran. They eat birds, sheep and the
odd donkey – and there are 75 pairs on the island. This is up from 25 pairs
in 1993. Vulture couples stay together for 60/70 years.
Displays in this “vulture room” explain how the Parsee people believe in
leaving dead bodies out in the open to be devoured by nature, often by
vultures. “Yes, vultures are still eating dead humans,” he says. “The Parsee
people are still using this. They are not allowed to bury or burn or put
bodies in the river. The only way is to give to nature. Then the soul goes
to heaven, they believe.” Another display shows that griffen vultures were
the symbol of Upper Egypt in the days of the pharaohs.
Outside, two large black vultures with shiny pink heads are lurking in a green
cage. They have injured their wings and are doomed to life in captivity.
They hop from one perch to another with great swoops of black feathers as
Goran explains how his eco centre works. “You see, I decided to protect this
island, to protect this species, to protect the ecosystem.”
There are about 20,000 sheep on Cres, but Goran has convinced shepherds to
allow the sheep to live “organically”. This means they are not treated with
medicines, resulting in 10 per cent dying naturally in the open each year.
He says: “The vultures eat these to survive and the farmers are able to sell
top quality organic lamb at a good price. There are 375 plant species on the
island. So the sheep have plenty to munch on. And the farmers are happy.”
Do the vultures get on with humans? “Yes, yes, on the whole,” Goran says. “But
a man on the other side of the island said that one of the vultures tried to
take his sandwich once. I’m not so sure about this.”
Goran believes that nature tourism is the way forward. “There are not many
people on this island. So the villages are small. I know the people in the
villages. They live in a traditional way. But they can also benefit from
tourism. And they see people coming to visit our centre, so they are happy.”
About 14,000 people come to help at his centre each year, staying in dorms
at the old yellow school house.
“This is why we are not going for the Coca-Cola and the McDonald’s way of
living. The local politicians can see that we are attracting people without
that. Anyway tourists like that are not tourists at all. They are
destroyers. You see it on the Spanish and the Greek islands. You see it
everywhere: planes coming every 30 minutes; ‘damen’ and ‘heren’ written on
the toilet doors; German music in all these huge hotels. The traditional way
of life is destroyed.”
Past fig and olive trees and along a small pathway, there are sweeping views
across a bay. In the distance we can see Rijeka; the tower blocks just
visible. On the pathway there are abstract sculptures by a local artist.
These are dotted around 80 kilometres of trails throughout Cres.
Apparently, it takes about three days to do the full loop. The sun is bearing
down and not far away two enormous black birds are swooping on thermals near
the shore – vultures looking for a sheep lunch, no doubt. “Yes aren’t they
just wonderful,” says Goran, staring at them dreamingly. “Poetry, I tell
you, simply poetry.”
How Low Can You Go? Round Europe for 1p Each Way (Plus Tax) by Tom
Chesshyre (£10.99, Hodder & Stoughton, or buy it from BooksFirst
for £9.89 including delivery).
