{"id":20154,"date":"2021-10-08T19:12:41","date_gmt":"2021-10-08T16:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/?p=20154"},"modified":"2025-05-05T15:46:59","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T12:46:59","slug":"extensive-wildlife-crime-investigation-in-andalusia-reveals-what-caused-the-mysterious-death-of-three-bearded-vultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/es\/blog\/extensive-wildlife-crime-investigation-in-andalusia-reveals-what-caused-the-mysterious-death-of-three-bearded-vultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Extensive wildlife crime investigation in Andalusia reveals what caused the mysterious death of three Bearded Vultures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Body of one of the Bearded Vultures found death in Andalusia \u00a9 Junta de Andaluc\u00eda<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In spring this year, our\u00a0Bearded Vulture reintroduction project<\/a>\u00a0suffered a significant loss \u2013 the death of three immature birds. The circumstances of the situation seemed suspicious, with all the signs initially indicating that illegal wildlife poisoning was responsible. In response, our partners at the\u00a0Junta de Andaluc\u00eda<\/a>\u00a0swiftly launched an investigation, examined all possible causes of death and in the end determined that it all seemed to be the result of an unfortunate natural event \u2013 a thunderstorm.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bearded Vulture behaviour indicates something is wrong<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

When GPS data showed that a couple of Bearded Vultures were immobile and in the same location at a remote area relatively new to these birds in the Huetor Natural Park in Granada, it raised suspicions. Shortly after, on the morning of 26 April 2021, agents of the Junta de Andaluc\u00eda<\/a> went to the scene and sadly found the carcasses of Bearded Vultures Jovan and Vainilla. Climbers then managed to retrieve the third body \u2013 it was Trashumancia. All birds were immatures that hatched in 2019. Jovan hatched in the wild while Vainilla and Trashumancia in captivity within the Bearded Vulture Captive Breeding Network<\/a>, coordinated by us at the Vulture Conservation Foundation (VCF)<\/a> on behalf of EAZA\u2019s EEP<\/a>. Their deaths caused a significant blow to our joint reintroduction efforts in the region. Jovan\u2019s parents were captive-bred and released years ago, and he was one of the few Bearded Vultures that recently hatched in Andalusia’s wild. The other two were released last year to boost the species\u2019 local reintroduced population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Extensive investigation launches to understand what happened<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

This serious wildlife mortality merited a serious response, and this is what transpired. Thirty agents of the Junta de Andaluc\u00eda and the\u00a0Nature Protection Service (Seprona) of the Civil Guard<\/a>\u00a0under the coordination of the Antipoison Programme, alongside several working dogs and even a drone and a helicopter, scoured the scene to investigate the incident. Based on the proximity of the Bearded Vulture carcasses and the presence of possible poison baits nearby, as well as other elements, the first inquiries suggested that these three protected birds died of poisoning.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n