DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

Who is exterminating the mountain eagle?

2024-03-11 09:38:45Fokus SHKRUAR NGA SILVANA MUçA
Who is exterminating the mountain eagle?
Eagle of the mountains

By Silvana Muça

The animal moratorium is nothing more than an "invalid" law, as it is not producing the required results. In parallel with the moratorium, the government allows the sale of hunting weapons and the number of authorizations issued is very high, not to mention the number of cartridges imported from abroad. High import demand translates into sales of cartridges and firearms. In addition to wild animals, rare birds are also prey. The number of individuals of the mountain eagle, curly pelican, cuckoo horse, and other birds included in the list of critical danger for extinction is shrinking every year. In this article you will find the causes that are affecting the disappearance of rare birds.

Experts explain to us where the moratorium comes from

The hunting moratorium began in 2016 as a 2-year plan, but is still in effect after back-to-back postponements. During the first months of the entry into force of this law, there was a mobilization of the responsible structures (mainly the State Police) to ensure its implementation, an action that was quickly forgotten. The moratorium is a decision in force purely on paper, as the ground proves otherwise. According to experts, there are shortcomings in implementation as there is no well-thought-out plan of measures.

In June 2021, when the second moratorium ended, a pause (a hunting season) was left unclear, since we had neither a moratorium, nor an order to open hunting from the line Ministry. Only in August 2022, the President of the Republic decreed the new law on the hunting moratorium, which provides for its extension for another three years in the Republic of Albania, but despite this, the situation is out of control.

The head of the Albanian Ornithological Association, Taulant Bino, said that the "fear" has already gone from the State Police, which does not even respond to the calls of public institutions in cases of denunciations of the killing of birds or other wild animals. According to him, through the western lowlands of Albania, the evocative devices of criminals are roaming, who openly challenge the law day and night. Hunting with devices imitating the short-tailed deer (Coturnix coturnix) remains quite problematic. "Inspection institutions are almost non-existent, often with inspectors who cover quite large areas, which are impossible to access. What is more serious, it seems as if the competent bodies are hiding behind a moratorium on paper and being aware that the killing of birds continues perhaps even more aggressively than before, harming bird populations in our country", says Bino.

Who is exterminating the mountain eagle?
Head of the Albanian Ornithological Association, Taulant Bino

List of species that are critically endangered

According to the official data provided by the journalist Silvana Muça, it turns out that there is a drastic decrease in the species that are in danger of extinction. According to the assessment carried out in 2020, according to experts, 79 bird species are threatened with extinction out of approximately 360 occurring in the country. So about 22% of birds, or 1/5 of them, are threatened. The greatest danger is presented to birds during the breeding season, where it turns out that 26 belong to the lowest category of endangerment, being evaluated as "Extremely Endangered" or "Critically Endangered". Some of the most endangered species during nesting are: Curled Pelican, Stork, Black Stork, Little Red-headed, Cuckoo, Black Vulture, Mountain Eagle, Imperial Eagle, Little Eagle, Spotted Eagle, Mediterranean Falcon, Peregrine Falcon of Hunting, Black-billed Beak, Pink Gull, etc.

From the official data, the number of pelican individuals from the census results respectively according to years; In 2020, 475 individuals are counted, in 2021 a slight increase is seen, with a total of 582 individuals, and in 2022, a drastic decrease of pelicans is observed, with only 293 individuals, while for 2023, the Ministry of Tourism and Environment has not presented figures. The reason for the decline of individuals in 2022, according to the Ministry of the line, was Avian Influenza. Officially, it is reported that in the area of ​​Prespa e Vogël, a border area with Greece, this species has been eliminated en masse.

Who is exterminating the mountain eagle?
Avian flu killed the Pelican

Avian flu killed the Pelican

The head of the Albanian Ornithological Association serves us other figures regarding the number of individuals, where according to him there are two species of pelicans in our country; curly pelican (Pelecanus crispus) and pink pelican (Pelecanus onocrotalus). The second one is breeding in Albania, but not nesting. It leaves in early autumn and returns in March.

"In Divjaka, the Karavasta area, the colony has known great fluctuations. In the 1960s the colony was estimated at 200-250 pairs, down to only 19 pairs in the early 2000s. Since then, the colony has grown through conservation efforts, environmental education and conservation awareness. habitats. Today the colony counts again about 80 nesting pairs. Despite the growth, unfortunately low reproductive success is observed, which suggests that further growth of the colony may be difficult," Bino argues.

Mountain eagle landing in frightening numbers

As for the situation on the Mountain Eagle, which is also the symbol of the nation, the data are drastic. From the assessment made in 2002, there are about 5-200 pairs. After 10 years, a decrease is found, with 50-150 pairs, while the most recent assessment in the field, which belongs to the year 2018, gives the value of 25-63 pairs. The first estimates were more or less approximate, while the latter was subjected to a more detailed analysis. However, the data show the tendency for a strong reduction of the population and reflect the opinion that at the beginning of the 2000s, the Mountain Eagle was everywhere present in Albania, today it is in danger of extinction.

Causes of bird decline

For each species, the reasons for the decline may be different, but overall it seems that urbanization is the main factor in endangering birds. It contributes to the loss and degradation of habitats, increased pollution of ecosystems, etc. Other factors are persecution, fatal accidents with energy infrastructure, poisoning or illegal hunting, etc.

Poisoning, one of the main causes of bird extinction

According to Bino, the poisoning of wild animals is a phenomenon that, according to indications and testimonies, dates back to the time of the communist system. During this period, official institutions have systematically used strychnine-based poison baits in order to eradicate wolves in rural areas. After 1990 and with the dissolution of the communist system, controlled poisoning, which until then was carried out by state institutions, was officially banned, but while it was already a well-known practice, it continued to be carried out illegally by residents of rural areas against animals unwanted animals that could cause damage to livestock, crops, etc. (mention: wolf, bear, badger, etc.).

Given that until 2019, poisoning was not clearly stated in the law as a prohibited offense and therefore was not controlled or investigated as a crime by the relevant institutions, this caused this phenomenon to spread widely and today we find it as a practice that is used from anyone and anywhere (and across urban areas already, versus stray animals). The lack of control by the state for a long time, the wide spread of poisoning in the country and the lack of awareness and information about the consequences of poisoning on wild fauna and the environment, has caused us to lose a significant amount of wildlife. wild

Who is exterminating the mountain eagle?
Avian flu killed the Pelican

Birds are not always the target of poisoning, however poisoning is a mass and indiscriminate killing method, meaning that if a poison bait is placed in the wild with the intention of killing a particular animal, this will be followed by a killing chain of a larger number of animals that are in that environment and that feed on carrion.

Vultures are the best example to illustrate how poisoning kills indiscriminately. Vultures are not in direct conflict with humans and therefore are not the target of poisoning, however they are the main victims of poisoning because they feed on dead animals, which may be poisoned or placed in the wild as poison bait. Poisoning is the main reason why the population of vultures in Albania has suffered a drastic decline. Of the 4 vulture species that once nested across the country, today only the Cuckoo Horse (Neophron percnopterus) nests with a reduced number of nesting pairs.

The firing of weapons makes the name during the moratorium

For the period 2016-2023, a total of 10,516 authorizations for hunting weapons were granted throughout Albania.

Regarding the import of weapons in the same period, it turns out that 1,820 shotguns and 567,840 cartridges were imported. There are 3,775 shotguns of various types and 5,306,986 cartridges.

In the 7 years that the moratorium has been in effect, 92 citizens have been arrested/criminally prosecuted for illegal hunting.

©CopyrightVoxNews
This article is exclusive to VoxNews, it is copyrighted according to Law No. 35/2016, "On copyright and related rights". The article can be republished by other media only by citing VoxNews and placing the source link at the end, otherwise any violator will be held responsible according to Article 178 of Law No. 35/2016.

Galeria fotografike (
)


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×