Red kite Andrea was wounded by a shot on Oct. 3 south of Reggio Calabria, between the localities of Pellaro and Motta S. Giovanni. The specimen had been born in Switzerland (Canton of Fribourg) in spring 2023 and had been released in Aspromonte National Park in August of that year as part of the LIFE MILVUS project.
From there on, Andrea had made exploratory movements that led him to visit many Italian regions. In a little more than a year, Andrea had traveled about 12,000 km, first reaching Sicily and then, once back on the peninsula, going up north and touching Basilicata, Puglia, Campania, Molise, Lazio, Abruzzo, Marche and Emilia-Romagna.
From this long journey Andrea had returned in early fall 2024, safe and sound: no sooner had he arrived near the release area than he fell victim to an act of poaching. He was found on the ground, wounded and bleeding by an ornithologist from the LIFE MILVUS project staff thanks to the precise location provided by the GPS transmitter with which he was equipped. Taken to the “Strait of Messina” Wildlife Recovery Center, an X-ray showed an injury to the ulna caused by a hunting pellet. The young raptor is alive by chance; it is not yet known if he will be able to fly again. Entrusted to the care of veterinarian Dr. Fabio Grosso, he will remain with his wing immobilized for about a month; the next phase of rehabilitation will make it possible to know whether Andrea will be able to be released again in the Aspromonte National Park.
In August 2024, 17 other red kites, originally from Switzerland, France (Corsica) and Basilicata, were released in the park. On the first day of the pre-opening of hunting, September 1, 2024, a female called Bruna inexplicably fell into the sea a few kilometers off the coast of Calabria. The animal could not be recovered to ascertain the cause of the disappearance, but GPS data suggests that this individual may also have been shot.
The red kite is a bird of prey with splendid multicolored plumage, displays a typically forked tail, and has a wingspan of up to one meter and eighty centimeters: it certainly cannot be mistaken for a turtle dove or a wood pigeon. It is clear that poaching continues to be a serious and widespread phenomenon, and it is well known that during the pre-opening period of hunting, many migratory birds of prey are killed almost everywhere. Among the latest episodes is the shooting in Sardinia of a Bonelli's eagle reintroduced as part of the European LIFE project “Aquila a-Life” right around the time of the pre-opening. The cases discovered are those involving GPS-equipped specimens, only the tip of an iceberg of proportions that remain unknown but certainly very significant.
Poaching is not simplistically attributable to ignorance and barbarism but is a crime often triggered by the business related to the trade in stuffed animals. If we want to protect biodiversity, preserve healthy ecosystems, and make projects that want to improve the environmental quality and attractiveness of territories successful, it is more necessary than ever to implement a strong action against poaching but also to reduce the hunting period so that the beginning of hunting activity does not coincide with the peak of the autumn migration of many protected species.
Andrew's movements from August 2023 to October 3, 2024, the date of his injury.
Andrea just recovered.
