Forty-seven wild animals found poisoned in Evros

(Elizavet Kret/Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace website)

A record number of animals, most of them wild, were found dead in the northeastern border area of ​​Evros, a local environmental group said on Tuesday, adding that their deaths were the result of poisoned bait.

The Society for the Protection of Biodiversity of Thrace (EPVTH) said the 47 animals were discovered during a 10-day “titanic effort” by two environmental groups to find and collect all the poisoned animals because they pose a threat to the local ecosystem when they are eaten. by other wildlife.

The operation was carried out by one team from EPVTH and two from the Natural Environment & Climate Change Agency, who were accompanied by officials from the Forestry Department of Alexandroupoli, the Management Unit of the Evros Delta and Dadia National Parks and the Vice Mayor of Feron. scanning an area of ​​approximately five square kilometers.

The teams collected the carcasses of 18 marsh harriers, 14 jackals, 4 foxes, 3 hawks, 2 dogs, 1 nocturnal bird of prey and five other mammals that could not be identified due to their advanced decay (jackals or foxes).

Most of them were located just a few kilometers from the Dadia-Lefkimi-Soufli National Park and the Special Protection Area of ​​the Natura 2000 network.

“The illegal use of poisoned bait in rural areas is unfortunately widespread. It is indicative that just two days after the completion of the clean-up work in Feres, a black vulture was found dead by poisoned bait in the mountains of Nea Santa in the Rhodope Mountains, thanks to a transmitter it was carrying,” EPVTH said.

“The sheer scale of the Feres incident proves the need for people to immediately alert the competent authorities if they become aware of the existence of poisoned bait or a (poisoned) animal, in order to prevent this chain of poisoning,” said Elizavet Kret. operator of the special poisoned bait detection unit at EPVTH.

The incident is being investigated by the Alexandroupolis Forestry Office, in collaboration with the competent Directorate of Agricultural Economics and Veterinary Medicine of Evros, which has sent samples for toxicological analyses.