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Poisoning of white-tailed eagle must be stopped

Poisoning of white-tailed eagles has severely increased in the past few years in the territory of Special Nature Reserve Gornje Podunavlje in Serbia, which is part of the planned Transboundary Biosphere Reserve “Mura-Drava-Danube” (TBR MDD). 2014, a total of 9 white-tailed eagles were poisoned, after they ate toxic bait, which was most likely intended to target jackals and other predators.

Perished white-tailed eagle, © by Nikola Danilovic
Perished white-tailed eagle, © by Nikola Danilovic
                                                       
Bearing in mind, that there are 22 breeding pairs in this area, the poisonings were a massive attack on the valuable and endangered population. Faced with this situation, WWF team in Serbia initiated several activities in order to secure the species’ survival in the area. Together with the Institute for Nature Conservation of Vojvodina Province, the Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Urban Planning, the Construction and Environmental Protection, Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia and PE Vojvodinašume, several urgent conservation actions for the white-tailed eagles were developed.

"Dead eagle - covered in snow", © by Nikola Danilovic
"Dead eagle - covered in snow", © by Nikola Danilovic
                                                     
Feeding of white-tailed eagles
“Because of the severity of the situation, powerful efforts to stop the poisoning are needed to protect the white tailed eagle and other endangered species which are affected”, said Duska Dimovic, director of the WWF programme in Serbia. Therefore, as a first step a feeding programme has started in December 2014, with the construction of a feeding place in Svilojevo (the municipality where most of the poisoning cases occurred). This was done in order to attract the birds to a new feeding place, away from sites where there more toxic baits will most probably be laid in future.

Feeding place, © by WWF Adria
Feeding place, © by WWF Adria
The size of the feeding place, which is recessed in the ground, is 12.5 acre and it also includes an observation post. The feeding activities are implemented in cooperation with local people who already donated 100 kg of meat since the beginning of December. This is an important step towards involving the local community into a conservation project, as well as raising awareness amongst the public. Ever since the feeding activities started, white-tailed eagles have already been spotted feeding on the site.

Media campaign against poisoning
To prevent further poisonings, also a media campaign has been started by WWF Serbia and partners to educate local people about the problem. In the first phase, it includes local media channels in Vojvodina Province (radio, TV, print, web), as well as poster and leaflet distribution in agricultural pharmacies and hunting societies in targeted areas.  Furthermore education activities are being developed for schools in targeted municipalities.
The toxic that was used for the baits was most likely Carbofuran (also: Furadan, Curaterr), which is extremely toxic, so only a few mg is enough to kill any living being. A ban for the sale of Carbofuran came into force in June, 2014, but it seems that some people stocked up on the pesticides before the ban.
The penalty for killing a white-tailed eagle in Serbia is around 4,000 EUR.

white-tailed eagle campaign, © by WWF Adria
white-tailed eagle campaign, © by WWF Adria