Le Rozier and the Jonte: Canoes and the Vultures Brought Back
Occitanie, France
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375
XP
+100 France
= 475 total
1 day
Le Rozier and the Jonte: Canoes and the Vultures Brought Back
375 + 100 XP
Le Rozier, a village of 126 people, sits where the Jonte runs into the Tarn. The Jonte gorge above it is a canyon like the Tarn's but shallower — 300 to 450 metres deep and 20 kilometres long — with the causse Méjean on its north side and the causse Noir on its south. Griffon vultures had shared these cliffs with people until the mid-19th century and were gone from French skies by the end of the 1940s, poisoned and shot. A first release of four birds here at the start of the 1970s failed outright. So they were bred in captivity instead, and 61 griffons were let go between 1981 and 1986 — the release that rebuilt a viable population here. Black vultures followed, Egyptian vultures came back of their own accord, and by 2005 there were 130 to 140 pairs of griffons and about twenty pairs of black vultures on these cliffs. The Maison des Vautours in the gorge tells the story with the birds circling outside.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Put a canoe in at Le Rozier and paddle down the Tarn from the meeting of the two rivers, the lowest point of the commune at 387 m — the Gallo-Romans called this junction Inter-Aquas and set up potteries on it — with the rocher de Capluc standing over you like a ruined castle above both gorges
2
of 4
In the Maison des Vautours, work out the two things that actually brought the birds back: the banning of poison baits in the 1970s, which had been killing them through the carcasses they fed on, and the feeding platforms that farmers on the causses are now allowed to keep on their own land — there are about two hundred of them in France
3
of 4
From the terrace at the Maison des Vautours, count the birds you can see on the cliff opposite and learn to tell the two apart — the griffon with its pale collar and 2.60 m span, the black vulture darker and nesting in trees rather than on rock. There were 130 to 140 pairs of griffons here in 2005 and over 900 pairs across the Massif Central by 2022
4
of 4
Take one of the paths that climbs out of Le Rozier onto the rim of the Jonte gorge and find all four of the landmarks strung along it — the balcon du Vertige, the vase de Sèvre, the vase de Chine and the Terrasses — 300 to 450 m above the river
Put a canoe in at Le Rozier and paddle down the Tarn from the meeting of the two rivers, the lowest point of the commune at 387 m — the Gallo-Romans called this junction Inter-Aquas and set up potteries on it — with the rocher de Capluc standing over you like a ruined castle above both gorges
In the Maison des Vautours, work out the two things that actually brought the birds back: the banning of poison baits in the 1970s, which had been killing them through the carcasses they fed on, and the feeding platforms that farmers on the causses are now allowed to keep on their own land — there are about two hundred of them in France
From the terrace at the Maison des Vautours, count the birds you can see on the cliff opposite and learn to tell the two apart — the griffon with its pale collar and 2.60 m span, the black vulture darker and nesting in trees rather than on rock. There were 130 to 140 pairs of griffons here in 2005 and over 900 pairs across the Massif Central by 2022
Take one of the paths that climbs out of Le Rozier onto the rim of the Jonte gorge and find all four of the landmarks strung along it — the balcon du Vertige, the vase de Sèvre, the vase de Chine and the Terrasses — 300 to 450 m above the river
Before you go
Canoe hire on the Tarn runs a summer season and stops when the river is high; Le Rozier has flooded repeatedly, most recently in 2020, so check levels rather than assuming. The Maison des Vautours is a paid visit and is 8 km up the gorge from Le Rozier at Le Truel. The causses are under a forest-fire plan in summer, so no fires and no cigarettes off the road. The cliffs above you are a working climbing area: do not walk under belays, and keep dogs in.
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About Occitanie
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
375 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
475 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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