Electrocution and safety measures
Newsletter 03/08/2018
On July 21, we lost four Northern Bald Ibises due to electrocution on an unsecured pylon of a medium-voltage power line in Hochburg-Ach in Upper Austria.
The birds were resting on the power pole, when they died because of a short circuit between the power lines and the pylon. The following day, a fifth bird died on the same pylon. All five birds belonged to the breeding colony of Burghausen in Bavaria. Those birds often cross the river Salzach to forage on grasslands in Upper Austria.
Electrocution on pylons of medium-voltage power lines is the most common cause of death within the free-living population of Northern Bald Ibises of the European LIFE+ project. Since 2014 we registered 28 fatalities caused by electrocution, 13 of which happened in Austria.
The threat posed by unsecured pylons, especially for large birds, has been known for a long time, but only projects doing comprehensive electronic monitoring, such as our LIFE+ project, show the extent of fatalities of large birds like the Northern Bald Ibis due to electrocution.
In Germany, the pylons of medium-voltage power lines were largely secured by the end of 2016 on the basis of a legal regulation. Since then, we lost only one bird in Germany due to electrocution, which proves the effectiveness of the security measures.
In the meantime, the dangerous pylon in Hochburg-Ach was provisionally secured by the network operator “Netz Oberösterreich GmbH”. The current incident reinforces our demand for more comprehensive security measures from the electricity network operators. Hardly any other threat to biodiversity can be solved in such a simple and comprehensive way. The isolation of the conductors around the pylons turns these death traps into a safe resting place for all birds. We also receive increasing support from politicians, including our LIFE + project partners Land Salzburg and the City of Burghausen.
The network operators are increasingly willing to take species conservation measures. After a conversation with representatives of the “Energie AG Oberösterreich”, the securing of dangerous pylons in Hochburg-Ach is envisaged until the next breeding season in 2019. There are also specific negotiations with the “Salzburg Netz GmbH” to secure dangerous pylons in the breeding area Kuchl, as well as with network operators of Tyrol and Carinthia. It is evident that these measures not only serve the sustainable protection of Northern Bald Ibises, but are of general importance for species conservation.
Picture (O. Habel): The “death trap” pylon in Hochburg-Ach, where five Northern Bald Ibises were killed. By now, the pylon is provisionally secured.
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