Tragedy in the vicinities of Ticha. Four Cinereous Vultures have been poisoned
14.03.2022Four Cinereous Vultures poisoned in the vicinity of the village of Ticha! Among them was our favourite, first wild-hatched Cinereous Vulture – Minchev-Boev. It happened after decades the species was considered extinct in the Red Book! It is a tragedy for Bulgarian nature conservation.
Today, after receiving alarming data from the satellite transmitters, with which the birds were equipped, colleagues from Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna found in the vicinities of Ticha, municipality Kotel the corpses of four Cinereous Vultures, Common Buzzards, and two shepherd dogs, whose carcass had the vultures ate. Most likely the dogs were poisoned and their corpses dumped. The vultures found them and poisoned them along the food chain.
Kotel Regional Police Department has launched a preliminary investigation. In accordance with their competencies Sliven District Prosecutor’s Office, Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water – Stara Zagora, Bulgarian food safety agency – Sliven, Southeast State Company – Sliven took legal measures for this matter. Thank you for the quick response!
All evidence of the crime has been collected and will be investigated. The poisoned animals will be autopsied at the Wildlife Rescue Center in the Green Balkans - Stara Zagora. Collected tissues from the dead animals will be examined in laboratories in Bulgaria and Spain and will be carried out within the project Bright Future for the BlackVulture LIFE14 NAT / BG / 649.
We also would like to express our gratitude to the duty officer for their quick response. We hope the case will be solved ASAP, and responsible will be prosecuted.
Four Cinereous Vulture specimens (Aegypius monachus) – this will be recorded in the heartless authorities protocol. We will remember them as “our vultures”, “our kids”.
Three of the vultures were donated by the Government of Extremadura, Spain. The aim of the donation was the reintroduction of the Bulgarian Cinereous Vulture population. Bulgaria had to become their home and place where to raise a family and new generation:
M5 – Vratsa, arrived from Spain in 2019, released in Natural park „Vrachanski Balkan“ in 2020.
Х1 – Bulgar, arrived from Spain in 2020, released in Sinite Kamani Natural Park in 2021.
L1 – Bai Ivan, arrived from Spain in 2020, released in Sinite Kamani Natural Park in 2021.
And the fourth one, our child, BE1 Minchev-Boev, we have been waiting for him for 30 years. He was hatched on 19.05.2021 on the territory of Kotlenska Planina and flew freely in the Bulgarian sky. We were glad last autumn he didn’t start wandering around in foreign lands. During these wanderings young and inexperienced birds often do not survive. Unfortunately, his destiny was to perish in his native land…
Poisons are dangerous, they wipe out animal species and the work of so many people in Bulgaria and abroad, devoted to the idea of reintroducing the species: Green Balkans, Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna, Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, Vulture Conservation Foundation, Government of Extremadura, Spain, EuroNatur Foundation, and many other organizations, nature parks, European zoos and institutions. We have no words to describe how sad we feel, but we will have to find the strength, despite what has been done, to move forward.
Cinereous Vulture is Conservationally significant species - it is placed under protection by the Biodiversity Act (BDA) - since 2002. The species is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as in Annex No. 3 to Art. 37 of the BDA, as a species requiring the designation of habitat protection zones through the Natura 2000 network.
Photo: Ivelin Ivanov, Green Balkans
For more information:
Ivelin Ivanow – “Bright Future for the Black Vulture” project manager
GSM: +359887589995
email: iivanov@greenbalkans.org
Dr. Hristina Klisurova - Wildlife Rescue Centre, GSM: +359886570053, email: hhristova@greenbalkans.org
Today, after receiving alarming data from the satellite transmitters, with which the birds were equipped, colleagues from Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna found in the vicinities of Ticha, municipality Kotel the corpses of four Cinereous Vultures, Common Buzzards, and two shepherd dogs, whose carcass had the vultures ate. Most likely the dogs were poisoned and their corpses dumped. The vultures found them and poisoned them along the food chain.
Kotel Regional Police Department has launched a preliminary investigation. In accordance with their competencies Sliven District Prosecutor’s Office, Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water – Stara Zagora, Bulgarian food safety agency – Sliven, Southeast State Company – Sliven took legal measures for this matter. Thank you for the quick response!
All evidence of the crime has been collected and will be investigated. The poisoned animals will be autopsied at the Wildlife Rescue Center in the Green Balkans - Stara Zagora. Collected tissues from the dead animals will be examined in laboratories in Bulgaria and Spain and will be carried out within the project Bright Future for the BlackVulture LIFE14 NAT / BG / 649.
We also would like to express our gratitude to the duty officer for their quick response. We hope the case will be solved ASAP, and responsible will be prosecuted.
Four Cinereous Vulture specimens (Aegypius monachus) – this will be recorded in the heartless authorities protocol. We will remember them as “our vultures”, “our kids”.
Three of the vultures were donated by the Government of Extremadura, Spain. The aim of the donation was the reintroduction of the Bulgarian Cinereous Vulture population. Bulgaria had to become their home and place where to raise a family and new generation:
M5 – Vratsa, arrived from Spain in 2019, released in Natural park „Vrachanski Balkan“ in 2020.
Х1 – Bulgar, arrived from Spain in 2020, released in Sinite Kamani Natural Park in 2021.
L1 – Bai Ivan, arrived from Spain in 2020, released in Sinite Kamani Natural Park in 2021.
And the fourth one, our child, BE1 Minchev-Boev, we have been waiting for him for 30 years. He was hatched on 19.05.2021 on the territory of Kotlenska Planina and flew freely in the Bulgarian sky. We were glad last autumn he didn’t start wandering around in foreign lands. During these wanderings young and inexperienced birds often do not survive. Unfortunately, his destiny was to perish in his native land…
Poisons are dangerous, they wipe out animal species and the work of so many people in Bulgaria and abroad, devoted to the idea of reintroducing the species: Green Balkans, Fund for Wild Flora and Fauna, Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds, Vulture Conservation Foundation, Government of Extremadura, Spain, EuroNatur Foundation, and many other organizations, nature parks, European zoos and institutions. We have no words to describe how sad we feel, but we will have to find the strength, despite what has been done, to move forward.
Cinereous Vulture is Conservationally significant species - it is placed under protection by the Biodiversity Act (BDA) - since 2002. The species is included in the Red Book of the Republic of Bulgaria, as well as in Annex No. 3 to Art. 37 of the BDA, as a species requiring the designation of habitat protection zones through the Natura 2000 network.
Photo: Ivelin Ivanov, Green Balkans
For more information:
Ivelin Ivanow – “Bright Future for the Black Vulture” project manager
GSM: +359887589995
email: iivanov@greenbalkans.org
Dr. Hristina Klisurova - Wildlife Rescue Centre, GSM: +359886570053, email: hhristova@greenbalkans.org
