{"id":20025,"date":"2021-10-01T12:52:53","date_gmt":"2021-10-01T09:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/?p=20025"},"modified":"2025-05-05T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T12:46:59","slug":"understanding-the-perception-of-wildlife-poisoning-in-albania-and-raising-awareness-about-the-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/es\/blog\/understanding-the-perception-of-wildlife-poisoning-in-albania-and-raising-awareness-about-the-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"Understanding the perception of wildlife poisoning in Albania and raising awareness about the problem"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"wildlife
\u00a9 AOS<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Wildlife poisoning in Albania is an open secret and a widespread phenomenon throughout the country, mainly in rural and livestock areas where the conflict between humans and wildlife is more present. However, the information that Albanians have about this phenomenon is scarce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Survey on the information & perception of wildlife poisoning<\/strong> in Albania<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

During August, the Albanian Ornithological Society (AOS)<\/a>, as part of the BalkanDetox LIFE<\/a> project, conducted a survey on the information and perception that the inhabitants of some rural areas have about the poisoning of wild animals. The survey took place in some villages in the region of Gjirokastra, which have been designated as hotspot areas for poisoning due to confirmed cases of wildlife poisoning and the presence of one of the most endangered species, the Egyptian Vulture<\/a>. The target groups of this survey were shepherds, farmers, hunters, as well as other representatives from these communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do the respondents think about wildlife poisoning?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Preliminary results of the survey show that the inhabitants of rural areas are aware of illegal practices such as poisoning, but they are not very informed about its devastating consequences on wildlife. In general, respondents do not agree with this practice, however, not everyone would report a poisoning incident \u2013 some because they do not know where to report it and others because they do not want to create conflicts with neighbours or other people from their community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wildlife poisoning and the Egyptian Vulture<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

One of the most threatened species from the illegal use of poison baits is the Egyptian Vulture (Neophron percnopterus<\/em>), the only breeding vulture in Albania. Currently, there are only five pairs of this species in the country. As a scavenger, the Egyptian Vulture can fall victim to indirect poisoning. However, many of the respondents were not aware of this fact. For example, they didn\u2019t know that the placement of poison baits in nature could affect other species besides the target species.<\/p>\n\n\n\n