Killing of a bearded vulture in Spain – suspects identified!

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Late last year one of the bearded vultures released in the reintroduction project in Andalucia – a young male, was found shot in the Albacete province in Spain.

Now, after a painstaking eight-month investigation, SEPRONA, the environment wing of the Spanish Guardia Civil, announced they have identified two suspects, aged 35 and 53, both from Yeste (Albacete), for the occurrence.

According to the investigations, which required a reconstruction of the facts, the suspects alleged that vultures had attacked their cattle in the Natural Park of the Calares del Mundo and Sima – however vultures only prey on dead animals and normally only eat carcasses.

The bearded vulture reintroduction project in Andalusia, coordinated by the Junta de Andalusia, has been running for 11 years, with 50 birds released up to date, and already two breeding pairs established. Unfortunately, 13 of those 50 birds have been found dead so far while the whereabouts of at least 7 other birds is unknown – all birds are tagged with GPS tags. The future of the project is quite bright, but will only succeed if we manage to decrease the significant mortality affecting the population. 

The VCF would like to thank the serious work done by SEPRONA, but also the Environmental Agents of the Junta de Andalucia.

Photo: Junta de Andalucia

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