Content Stats & Analytics for @mossy.earth

Mossy Earth
@mossy.earth

25,658 followers

Investigation of red kite poisoning has identified a suspect 🦅 Wildlife poisoning is a crime in Spain, but continues to be the leading cause of death of Red kites in this country. Thanks to the great effort of our on-the-ground partner AMUS and Spanish authorities, the 1,5 year investigation of the poisoning of a Red kite released as part of the LIFE Eurokite project is coming to an end. The Red kite was GPS tagged and released in the spring of 2021 after having recovered at the AMUS wildlife from an injury. As such, it became part of the 500 Red kites that have been equipped with a GPS in Europe in the last 2 years. In Spain the species is classified as Endangered and 100 juvenile nestlings are being tagged and released during the project, supported by Mossy Earth. With the increasing availability of GPS devices for species tagging, this method is becoming more important in understanding the behaviour and threats to different species to design effective conservation strategies. After the release, the Red kite migrated to the south of France where it spent the summer, returning back to Spain with the beginning of the autumn migration to an area south of the release site. It was in this area in Extremadura where it was detected dead in late 2021. The GPS device played an essential role in quickly identifying the death of the bird and localizing the body, collecting important evidence at the scene and starting a police investigation. The necropsy carried out at the AMUS wildlife hospital confirmed poisoning as the cause of death and identified two toxic pesticides aldicarb and oxamil, the former banned in the EU. The identification of these toxins in the body of the bird later led to the identification of an agricultural facility with possession of these substances and the suspect. We applaud the excellent work of AMUS and all the authorities that were involved in the investigation process and we hope that this successful investigation will act as a deterrent to future wildlife poisonings. More about this project on our website: LINK IN BIO Adriana Brossmannova Conservation Biologist @ Mossy Earth #redkites #birdsofprey #rewilding #mossyearth