Members of the Nature Protection Team (Seprona) of the Albacete Civil Guard Command have investigated a resident of Murcia as the alleged perpetrator of a crime against the protection of flora and fauna for killing a bearded vulture with a shotgun. in the Albacete town of Nerpio.
Members of the Seprona de la Benemérita Albacetense learned, through the Environment and Water Agency of the Government of Andalusia and the Provincial Delegation of Sustainable Development of Albacete, of the death of a bearded vulture on the 21st of last month. February in the municipality of Nerpio (Albacete), as reported by the Armed Institute in a press release.
With the first alarm data, obtained from the raptor’s monitoring system, environmental agents from the province of Albacete located the corpse of the bearded vulture which, after its collection, was transferred to the Albacete Wildlife Recovery Center for analysis and study.
The speed of this action and the efficiency shown by the environmental agents in these first moments made it possible to collect relevant information for the investigation, especially about the last movements of the bird during the days before its death, carried out jointly with the Paprona of Elche de la Sierra. visual inspection of the place of discovery.
From this moment on, Seprona developed several lines of investigation, in which it managed to gather valuable information both on the movements of the raptor, recorded in the GPS it carried, those related to its necropsy or that of the people who on the day of the death of the bearded vulture could be carrying out some type of activity in this area and could have some type of relationship with this event.
Once all this information was compiled, the investigations revealed that the bird was killed by shots from a shotgun, with ammunition for small game, also specifying that the shot that caused its death was at a short distance, finding up to 32 lead projectiles in its body.
An unmistakable species
It so happens that the bearded vulture is a large bird, with a curious and trusting character, making it practically impossible to confuse it with any other game species, concluding the investigations that the shot was produced consciously and voluntarily by the one who finally has been arrested.
The downed bearded vulture, named ‘Lopezosa’, is a species included in the Spanish Catalog of Endangered Species, in the category of ‘in danger of extinction’, being the fifth chick born in the wild from one of the first couples to form after the reintroduction of this species in 2006, also being the last of the same.
This represents a historic milestone in the conservation of the species, if we take into account that 18 years after the beginning of the reintroduction project, only 17 chicks have been born in the countryside, which gives an idea of the biological importance and the negative impact of events like the one investigated.
The reintroduction project of this species represents a significant financial outlay for the administration, due to the different actions it entails, and which, in the specific case of this specimen, is estimated at around 80,000 euros. The person detained, as established by the Penal Code for crimes against the protection of flora and fauna, could face prison sentences of six months to two years, a fine of eight to twenty-four months and disqualification from the right to hunt for two years.
The proceedings carried out by the Seprona of the Civil Guard of Albacete have been made available to the Court of Investigation of the Guard of Hellín, which has heard the proceedings.
Actions that do not go unpunished
Since 2017, there have been three cases of death by gunshot of bearded vultures in the province of Albacete. The first case took place in 2017, in the municipality of Yeste, within the Calares del Mundo and Sima Natural Park, with Seprona beginning an investigation that lasted eight months and culminated in the investigation of two people by the commission. of a crime against the protection of flora and fauna.
The specimen, which had a GPS device, was part of a breeding and introduction program into the natural environment, having been born in captivity and being released in 2015 in the Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas Natural Park.
The second case took place in 2021, on the high plateau of the province of Albacete (Calares del Mundo and Sima Natural Park), next to the border with the province of Jaén (Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Sierras Natural Park). Villas). After an arduous investigation that lasted two years, it culminated in the investigation of three people, in the month of June 2023, for the commission of a crime against the protection of flora and fauna.
With this latest case, which occurred in February 2024, the Nature Protection Service has investigated a total of six people for the commission of three crimes against the protection of flora and fauna.
The excellent collaboration of the Albacete Environmental Agents Corps is noteworthy, both in these cases of wildlife killed by gunshots and in the discovery of animals in the natural environment killed by other criminal causes.
Advice if you find an injured wild species
The Civil Guard reminds that if any injured wild species is found, the Civil Guard emergency telephone number 062 must be notified, indicating the location of the discovery or the geographical coordinates, using the GPS of the mobile phone.
Likewise, you should not touch the animal, as it may cause injury or it could attack when trying to defend itself. It is necessary to wait for the arrival of Seprona agents, specialists in the handling and transfer of these animals with due guarantees to a specialized center.
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