The Eurasian griffin vulture has a large range, being found from the Iberian peninsular in the west, right across north India in the East, and even found in parts of Africa in the South (its most northerly bounds are level with Southern Europe). It is considered as least concern, and has 2 subspecies

• G. f. fulvus – (Hablizl, 1783)
• G. f. fulvescens – Hume, 1869

The population was at its lowest in Europe in the 1980s, when France and Spain had a population of no more than 1000, this has since recovered to around 25000. They Pyrennees population has been reduced greatly by efforts to contain BSE – carcasses are rapidly removed to avoid spreading the illness, however, this means less meat for scavengers to eat. This continues across much of its range. A better handling of this species would likely allow it to recover relatively fast. As with some other species, just one egg is laid each year, meaning that populations cannot recover particularly rapidly.

They have been recorded living to over 41 years in captivity. There have been various efforts to return them to areas where humans had pushed them to extinction – such as the central massif of France.

Poisoned bait balls are the greatest threat to this species long-term survival