Another poaching case
Newsletter 05/10/2016
On September 1 2016, the first day of the hunting season in the Tuscany, the subadult Northern Bald Ibis KATO was shot near Punta Ala, province of Grosseto. Two days after the accident, a member of the LIFE+ reintroduction team discovered the body of KATO at a meadow. It was handed over to Renato Ceccherelli from the Veterinary Wildlife Management, CRUMA, for examination. He stated with accuracy and without possibility of contradiction that KATO was shot.
In autumn 2016, a total of 17 migrating Northern Bald Ibises were on their way through Northern Italy towards the WWF Oasi Laguna di Orbetello as the wintering site. Shooting one out of 17 birds is a clear indication for a substantial pressure by illegal hunting. Thus, KATO is the peak of an iceberg. The case indicates how serious the threat to endangered migratory birds by illegal hunting in Italy is. Consequent measures are urgently needed.
The conviction of a hunter, who shot two Northern Bald Ibises in 2012, is a precedent case with outstanding relevance, not only for the LIFE+ reintroduction project but also for the conservation of endangered migratory birds in general. The fact that all Norther Bald Ibises are tagged makes them an indicator species for the real dimension of this threat. Due to the data from the LIFE+ Northern Bald Ibis reintroduction project is it evident that poaching is not a trivial matter but a serious threat to endangered species like the Northern Bald Ibis.
Major Italian hunting associations collaborate with the LIFE+ reintroduction project. The high rate of poaching seriously damages the international reputation of Italy and of the Italian hunters in particular. We urge the hunting associations as our partners to act decided and consequent against the minority of their members, which illegally hunt on protected species and to exclude them from the hunter’s community.
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