Yesterday a joint commission was held by FWFF, Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Waters (RIEW) Blagoevgrad, the Blagoevgrad Police and the Regional Directorate for Food Safety (RDFS), which had to record the last three found birds and to collect probes of them. The conclusions of the observations of the nestling and the egg of the only nesting birds are alarming. The experts are of the opinion that there is no way the parents that remained alone to manage, for which evidences apparently the not good state of the nestling in the nest. For this reason qualified mountaineers from the Green Balkans team will respond tomorrow on–the-spot in order to support the FWFF team to take the nestling and the egg. The action is coordinated with RIEW Blagoevgrad and is carried out through a special permit, which the FWFF team has at its disposal, for exclusion from the bans of the Biodiversity Act, which gives them authority to give such help to wild birds in disaster.
One of the dead vultures found yesterday in the Kresna defile is B2C – Niki – the nestling hatched in 2016 from the Vrachanski Balkan, which spent the winter in the Gorge. The young bird was given name within an International campaign which announced the successful return of the Eurasian Griffon in the Kresna defile/Pirin and Balkan Mountains. Niki was named after Nikolai Nenchev – Director of Natural Park “Vrachanski Balkan” as a sign of recognition for his contribution of the Eurasian Griffon in Balkan Mountains. During the cold months Niki spent the winter in the Gorge, attracted by the other birds to the platform for feeding up of FWFF. Unfortunately it is one of the victims of the use of poisons in the defile.
Among the rest victims there are birds which were already in nests, adults with potential for breeding, as well as young ones. As the FWFF team already announced, the case ruined the 15-year efforts of the environmentalists for the return of the species in the region of the Kresna Gorge and Pirin and sent back the programme with years.
The FWFF and Green Balkans teams thank to all of the more than 50 volunteers who participated in the search of the poisonous baits and their victims, to the volunteers-interpreters and all sympathetic citizens.
All who want to support the campaign can sign the petition or to donate to the FWFF account BG13UNCR96601093236424 in UNICREDIT BULBANK (funds will be necessary for upcoming lawsuits).
An urgent saving action for the nestling and the egg of the vultures nesting in the Kresna gorge. A total of 30 are the victims of the poisons in the defile
