“Days of the tarpans”

• Home
• Useful information
• “Days of the tarpans”

New Thracian Gold, the Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB) and the Krumovgrad Municipality organize the event “Days of the tarpans” near Sbor village, Krumovgrad region. The event will take place 27-29 April to celebrate the birth of this season’s foals of the tarpan wild horses. On the first day BSPB will present its activities in the region over the last 15 years, together with the most recent initiatives within the five-year LIFE+ project “The Return of the Neophron”. Among the attractions for the visitors is the opportunity to watch wild birds during a vulture feeding.

 The guests at the “Days of the tarpans” will also see an exhibition of rare autochthonous breeds: Rhodopean shorthorn and Grey Bulgarian cattle, together with Karakachan sheep and shepherd dogs. Volunteers can take part in the renovation and enlargement of the enclosure where the horses still live. Among the other attractions come a Children’s Drawing Contest, a Natural Souvenirs Workshop, planting of trees, construction and putting up of nest boxes. The Alma Alter Theatre at the Sofia University will perform parts of its play “Wildgreen”, based on the novel Tarpans on an open air stage; the performance will be followed by a discussion with the author Dimitar Atanassov, the director Nikolay Georgiev and the actors. Local farmers from the Eastern Rhodope Mountains will exhibit their bio products for the guests to taste, together with a presentation of authentic folkore from the region.

 The initiative was launched with the introduction of Holland tarpan horses to the Eastern Rhodope Mountains within the New Thracian Gold project which aims at pastureland and biodiversity conservation.
 BSPB invites all its members and supporters to this celebration of spring and new life in the Eastern Rhodopes!

The activities within the five-year project “The Return of the Neophron” are funded by the LIFE+ Programme of the European Union and the “A. G. Leventis” Foundation. Their aim is the conservation of one of the rarest and most threatened birds of prey globally. The project’s main field of action will be 27 Natura 2000 areas in Bulgaria and Greece which are of the utmost importance for the species’ survival. Most of them are located in the heart of the Eastern Rhodopes.