Andrea is back in the air. After the shotgun blast in Calabria that injured his right wing last Oct. 3 and after a long period of treatment and rehabilitation, the young red kite was released into the wild on Jan. 19, 2025 near Madonie Regional Park in Sicily.
Born in a nest in Switzerland and then transferred and released into Aspromonte National Park in the summer of 2023 as part of the ongoing reintroduction program, Andrea had traveled more than 12,000 wandering between Sicily and south-central Italy until, just south of Reggio Calabria, a shotgun blast fractured his ulna.
GPS monitoring of his movements had enabled ornithologists from the CERM Association Threatened Raptors Center and the Calabrian Ornithology Station to promptly locate the animal and then retrieve him on the ground bleeding. Thanks to the work of the operators of the Wildlife Recovery Center “Strait of Messina,” Andrea is once again able to fly perfectly.
After being fitted with a new GPS, Andrea was released in an area that is home to two roosts with about 50 red kites, which is also frequented by one of the young red kites released in Aspromonte National Park in 2024.
