Twenty-one juvenile harriers (or hunting eagles) were released this Tuesday in the municipality of Castro Verde, district of Beja, as part of the Emergency Plan for the Recovery of the Harrier (Circus pygargus), announced this Wednesday.
In a statement sent to the Lusa agency, the Institute for the Conservation of Nature and Forests (ICNF) revealed that it is “a migratory species” that nests in Portugal, “being the Alentejo region one of the most important for its reproduction”.
The Emergency Plan for the Recovery of the Harrier, coordinated by the ICNF, is the result of a collaboration with the League for the Protection of Nature (LPN) and also has the collaboration of the project “Seas with Biodiversity: Save the Hunting Eagle ”.
Participating in this project are the Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Research Center (CIBIO/Biopolis), the Continente Producers Club, the National Association of Cereal Producers (ANPOC), Palombar — Conservation of Nature and Rural Heritage, and the Society for the Study of Birds (SPEA).
EITHER Emergency Plan “started in March”, with the survey and location of colonies and nests in hay production areas.
You the collected eggs went to a breeding center”where they were incubated in specialized facilities for this purpose” and “subject to constant monitoring,” the statement read.
The aim was that “incubation should be carried out at the appropriate level of temperature and humidity and maximize hatching success,” the ICNF added.
After birth, the pups were fed in a “climate controlled environment” until they could be transferred to the “natural ‘habitat’ acclimatization” facilities, built specifically at Herdade do Vale Gonçalinho, owned by LPN in the municipality of Castro. Green.
The first cubs were moved to this location in June, approximately 30 days old, so that they would be ready for their return to the wild, which occurred yesterday. [terça-feira] successfully,” the ICNF noted.
According to the institute, in the Castro Verde Special Protection Zone it was estimated, in 2011, “the presence of 214 breeding pairs” of harriers, and in 2021, “in the same area”, there were already “only 50 breeding pairs”. .couples”.
These values indicate a decrease in the number of pairs. [de tartaranhão-caçador] in Portugal of approximately 75% in the last 10 years, which reaches 85% in Alentejo”, pointed out the ICNF.
It was due “to the critical situation in which the species is found” in the country that “this Emergency Plan” was launched, coordinated by the ICNF, “to prevent the extinction of this species in Portugal,” he added.
The ICNF also highlighted the “unprecedented effort in which it was necessary to carry out the incubation “ex-situ” (outside the natural environment)” of the eggs, “to ensure their survival” and “increase the number of juveniles” that They have now been returned to the “mid-wild”.
Source: Observadora
