Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Massive extinction of white-head eagles in Macedonia

The Macedonian rare avian species - white-head eagle - is in grave danger of total extinction, after 16 dead birds have been found Wednesday and Thursday in Mariovo region.

The members of the hunting society "Kajmakchalan" had found ten dead birds yesterday, while the organizations working for protection of these rare birds found another six today, Makfax's correspondent reported.

The latest massive deaths cut the number of this species by a half, as the latest survey showed that as many as 40 of white-head eagles existed in Macedonia.

It is believed that the found vultures have been killed by a poison used by the live-stock
breeders for predatory wild animals.

Bitola Police, as well as the Environment Ministry and the Macedonian Environment Association have dispatched teams at the site for inspection.

Dimce Rolevski, coordinator of the project for vultures protection with the Environment Ministry, said that the cause of deaths will be determined by DNA analysis.

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