Third poaching case
Newsletter 18/10/2016
Within 40 days, three critically endangered Northern Bald Ibises were shot in different Italian regions during their migrating journey. This is one sixth of the birds that were present in Italy at the time.
The most recent case happened on October 5th in the province of Grosseto. The juvenile female THOR was on the way from the breeding site in Bavaria to the WWF reserve Laguna di Orbetello, together with two conspecifics. Corinna Esterer, member of Waldrappteam, found the bird: “THOR sat on the ground. She was alive but obviously had pain and was at the end of her strength. It was such a terrible thing to see, so close to its destination.”
These actual cases of illegal hunting are known because, thanks to the LIFE+ project, all birds carry GPS‐transmitters. This makes them to indicators for the actual extent of illegal bird hunting in Italy. But shooting the Northern Bald Ibises is just the tip of the iceberg. We assume that for other endangered and protected bird species, which are not monitored by a European LIFE+ project and protected by public attention, the rate of losses by illegal hunting is even higher. That is an incredible amount of birds and a huge damage. Immediate and effective actions are urgently needed!
Therefore, Waldrappteam now launches an international petition against illegal hunting on Northern Bald Ibises and other protected bird species in Italy. The petition, initiated due to an actual high public attention (more than 150.000 followers on Facebook), allows people to actively engage against illegal bird hunting, as a thoughtless leisure activity of some ruthless individuals, where lives are annihilated, animals are tormented and animal species are endangered.
Illegal hunting also has a lasting effect on the international image of Italy. But in particular, the criminal activity of some people substantially damages the image of all Italian hunters and the Italian hunting associations.
The petition is addressed to relevant Italian stakeholders and to the European Parliament. Legislative and executive measures should be developed and implemented, in cooperation with nature and species protection organizations, in particular with the operators of the European LIFE + project for the reintroduction of the NBI.
We ask to sign the petition and to disseminate the information and the link to the petition: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Cesare_Patrone_Head_of_the_Italian_State_Forestry_Corp_CARE_FOR_OUR_BIRDS_STOP_ILLEGAL_BIRD_HUNTING_IN_ITALY/?copy&utm_source=sharetools&utm_medium=copy&utm_campaign=389864&utm_term=noHash%2Ben&utm_content=
Picture (G Bedini): A hunted Northern Bald Ibis, rescued by Daniela Trobe, a member of Waldrappteam.
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