Interview: Helena Wehner at "Die Blaue Couch"

Published: Jan 14, 2026 by Helena Wehner

As part of the reintroduction program for the northern bald ibis, Helena accompanied the birds to their winter quarters as their foster mother. Over many weeks, she got the animals used to her, and they then followed her ultralight aircraft south. She knows each bird by name, and when they were released into the wild, she was both happy and sad.

Helena Wehner lives for one of the most unusual and at the same time most endangered bird species in Europe: the northern bald ibis. As a research assistant in the northern bald ibis team, she is involved in a unique reintroduction project in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. On the Blue Couch, she talks about how she became a foster mother for young northern bald ibises—and why these birds have completely turned her life upside down.

See the whole interview in german on the ARD Mediathek.