“The Return of the Neophron” experts participated in a conference against poisons in Spain

06.12.2012

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Experts of the Bulgarin Society for the Protection of Birds (BSPB), Hellenic Ornithological Society (HOS) and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) working on “The Return of the Neophron” project took part in an international conference on poisons in Spain. The theme of the forum, which was held in Cordoba, was "Poisons, wildlife and society." It gathered more than 200 participants from different countries. The organizer of the conference was the LIFE+ project “Innovative actions against illegal poisoning in EU Mediterranean plot area”.
The problem with the illegal use of poison is spread all over Europe, with the largest share of the Mediterranean countries. Spanish authorities reported that the combat against this kind of crime is extremely difficult and requires a lot of resources. For this purpose they use specially trained dogs. Dressage takes about 6 months and one trained dog is amounted between 3,000 to 5,000 Euros. During 2004-2012, there were 7,000 cases of canine teams discovered illegally used poisons. Only in 2012 cases were 395.
The method with the use of specialized canine teams is applied in Portugal as well. The effectiveness in detecting poisons is 86%. Authorities in Portugal shared similar problems as the one in Bulgaria of poisoning of rare birds of prey by pigeon breeders, using the same methods to eliminate predators. Canine teams are beneficial in this case. They were also successfully tested in Italy. It is expected soon to set us such canine teams in Greece and Hungary.
For more information:
Vladimir Dobrev (BSPB)
Conservation officer in Bulgaria project LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152
Email: vladimir.dobrev @ bspb.org

Victoria Saravia(HOS)
Project Coordinator for Greece LIFE10 NAT/BG/000152
Email: vsaravia@ornithologiki.gr

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