315 lines
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315 lines
8.2 KiB
Plaintext
Executable File
expat
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expatnews
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6543064
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# A new life for Croatia's griffon vultures
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## Rescued and nurtured for nearly a year, then fitted with a satellite
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transmitter, Letricia appeared reluctant at first to leave its island
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sanctuary and embark on its long and uncertain migration.
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![New life for Croatia's griffon vultures ][1]
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Griffin vultures, extinct in most of Europe, are being nurtured and released
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into the wild at a Croatian sanctuary Photo: AFP
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By Lajla Veselica, in Beli, Croatia 11:37AM GMT 11 Nov 2009
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[Comments][2]
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The last of eight griffon vultures to be released into the wild last month
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from the northern Croatian island of Cres, it eventually took wing searching
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for food.
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Griffon vultures are extinct in many European countries and are endangered in
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Croatia, but this sanctuary at the picturesque village of Beli has rescued,
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healed and released 95 birds since it was set up in 1993.
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For the first time, two of those climbing high into the sky - including
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Letricia - have been equipped with satellite transmitters which can stay on
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for years, providing data on their location, altitude, speed and course.
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Others are marked with cheaper rings and wing-tags for identification and
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monitoring, which is how one of the Croatian birds was discovered in Chad, in
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central Africa.
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"When I saw them flying for the first time, I was fascinated," said Goran
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Susic, a 51-year-old ornithologist who runs the sanctuary.
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When the project began there were only around 20 pairs of vulture griffons on
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Cres. It has now been raised to some 70 pairs, more than half the species'
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total number of pairs in Croatia, where they live on four northern islands.
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Still, their survival is at risk on several fronts. One is the decline of
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sheep farming, as the scavengers eat mainly sheep carcases.
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Another is creeping urbanisation, which is destroying their habitat, while
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tourists often disturb their nests and they also suffer the collateral damage
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of farmers trying to poison wild boar.
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Croatia's griffon vultures are the only ones that nest as low as 10 metres
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above sea level, often secreted in cliffs from where their young all too
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easily fall into the waves below.
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The first shelter at Beli was far too small for these birds of prey, which
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have a wingspan of 2.4 to 2.8 metres (eight to nine feet).
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"They were kept in rather poor conditions - in an overcrowded cage where they
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could not fly - until they reached a sufficient weight to be released.
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Although we were saving them, it was a kind of torture," Susic recalled.
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A new shelter, more than 20 times bigger, opened in May, and visitors can
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observe the birds from close range from a special viewing room.
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Their release into the wild has also been made less traumatic.
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"Before we transported them in boxes or bags to the top of the island where
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they were kept in small cages overnight prior to be released," Susic said.
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"It was an enormous stress that we wanted to diminish."
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This year the eight birds were separated on the eve of the big event in a part
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of the sanctuary to make their departure less stressful.
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Four birds will remain in Beli, as for various reasons they cannot survive in
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the wild. Eleven will be cared for and then released in 2010, by when they
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should have learned to eat, fly and behave in a group.
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The birds of prey fly across Europe and parts of Asia at a height of 6,000 to
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7,000 metres (19,800 to 23,100 feet) and speeds up to 160 kilometres (100
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miles) per hour, until they are five years old.
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Then the survivors return to nest on Cres, where a pair, mating for life, has
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one young every two years on average.
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Griffon vultures do not have a sense of smell but compensate for that with
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perfect sight. They communicate using wing signals at a distance of up to 10
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kilometres.
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Letricia was rescued in Poland and recovered at Warsaw zoo before it was
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returned to Croatia. Another vulture, named Neven, was injured in a car crash
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on a road in southern France, where it remained with a mate.
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And there was Banco, eaten by leopards after landing in an unroofed cage at
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Salzburg zoo in Austria.
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"Maybe their troubles are just beginning as they go back in the wild," said
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Angela Flemming-Pedersen, a Swiss visitor to the sanctuary, as she watched the
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birds fly away.
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"Vultures are a symbol of cleansing your soul and letting things go," said
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Mieka Dado, another visitor from Maastricht in the Netherlands.
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"We all have to do that at some point in our lives," added the 47-year-old
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holistic therapist, who plans to stay in Beli for a month as one of dozens of
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volunteers from across Europe.
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Griffon vultures are endangered in all European countries except in Spain,
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home to 18,000 pairs representing 95 per cent of the species in Europe.
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Many countries where they were extinct, such as Bosnia, Bulgaria, France,
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Israel and Italy, have programmes to reintroduce them.
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Despite Susic's enthusiasm, he worries that the authorities are not so keen on
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his project.
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"If it was a 'good-looking' attractive species like dolphins, it would be
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different," he lamented. "Sometimes I feel like we're begging for mercy, and
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actually we are fighting to preserve a species that is to Croatia's honour."
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