A second Saker Falcon released by the Green Balkans team this year was found electrocuted

Just a few days ago, the Wildlife Rehabilitation and Breeding Centre received a signal from the GPS transmitter of one of the young Saker Falcons released by the Green Balkans team. Unfortunately, the signal indicated that the bird was dead in the area of Timișoara, Romania.

Thanks to the swift response of our friend Cornel Cotorogea - Milca Petrovici, a volunteer with the Romanian organisation Milvus Group, visited the incident site that same day.

The bird was found beneath a power transmission pole, the design of which is among the most dangerous for birds. The necropsy carried out the following day by veterinary specialists from the University of Timișoara confirmed our suspicion: the young falcon’s death was caused by electrocution.

The dead falcon was one of the eight released this year by the Green Balkans team as part of our efforts to reintroduce the species in Bulgaria. After leaving the area of the adaptation aviary near Stara Zagora, the young bird embarked on a journey that took it through Albania, Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania.

This is the third of the four falcons equipped with GPS transmitters this year with a tragic fate. Another one was also killed by electrocution near Burgas, and one was shot in Hungary and is currently receiving treatment at the Budapest Zoo. The fourth tagged Saker Falcon is currently in Ukraine, where some of the areas it visits are active conflict zones.

Unfortunately, the information we receive from GPS transmitters is not always pleasant. However, these are incidents that have been happening for years to many species of birds. Thanks to modern technology, we can now pinpoint the problems, and through cooperation with institutions and organisations, we can work toward resolving them.

Once again, we express our gratitude to our Romanian colleagues for their timely and appropriate response.

The activities for the reintroduction of the Saker Falcon in Bulgaria are funded by Armeec JSC.