{"id":6321,"date":"2019-04-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4vultures.org\/blog\/portugal-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-tackling-illegal-wildlife-poisoning\/"},"modified":"2021-03-17T10:16:10","modified_gmt":"2021-03-17T10:16:10","slug":"portugal-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-tackling-illegal-wildlife-poisoning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/4vultures.org\/pt\/blog\/portugal-reaffirms-its-commitment-to-tackling-illegal-wildlife-poisoning\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal reaffirms its commitment to tackling illegal wildlife poisoning"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Representatives<\/a>\n
Representatives from organisations that have signed up to the partnership agreement for the new Antidote Programme Protocols for Action<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

As our three day\u00a0Balkan Vulture Anti-Poisoning workshop with\u00a0governmental agencies and non-governmental organisation from right across the Balkans came to a close on Wednesday our colleagues from across Portugal signed a new agreement as part of the\u00a0Antidote Programme<\/a> reaffirming their commitment to tackling illegal wildlife poisoning in the country.<\/p>\n

Coming together to tackle illegal wildlife poisoning<\/strong><\/p>\n

In a ceremony at the Attorney General’s Office in Lisbon nine different wildlife conservation organisations including; the Institute of Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF)<\/a>, the Office of the Attorney General and the National Institute of Agrarian and Veterinary Research<\/a>, universities of Lisbon<\/a>, \u00c9vora<\/a> e Tr\u00e1s-os-Montes and Alto Douro<\/a> and two non-governmental organizations, Quercus – National Association for Nature Conservation<\/a> e Aledia<\/a>, which is responsible for the management of several wildlife recovery centers, signed a partnership agreement for a revised and improved Antidote Programme.<\/p>\n

The Antidote Programme<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following a series of high profile wildlife poisoning cases in the early 2000s including one of Portugal\u2019s worst recorded incidents in 2003 at Idanha-a-Nova, where 33 Griffon Vultures, three Cinereous Vultures and three Royal Kites were poisoned after feeding on a sheep laced with poison that was being used to control feral dogs, the Antidote Programme was launched.<\/p>\n

\"Griffon<\/a>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Griffon Vultures poisoned at Idanha-a-Nova in 2003<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Inspired by a similar programme running in Spain, the Portuguese Antidote Programme was set-up with the signing of the Lisbon Declaration in January 2004 that for the first time defined a National Strategy to understand the extent of poison use in Portugal and to establish measures to control the illegal practice.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The data collected through the Antidote Programme estimated that 145 individuals of protected species including Cinereous Vultures were poisoned between 2003 and 2014 in Portugal, with the real figure believed to be significantly higher as only 10% of the animals that are victims of the poisoned baits are detected,.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The New Antidote Programme protocol<\/strong><\/p>\n

The agreement signed this week by the leading governmental agencies and non-governmental conservation organisations agrees the implementation of a new Protocol of Action of procedures to be followed in cases where wild animals, dead or injured, are suspected of being poisoned in a natural environment. In addition, it creates the National Network of Necropsy and Toxicology Centres, to improve the operation of the expert examinations.<\/p>\n