The Seprona arrested a man for shooting a bearded vulture in Nerpio (Albacete).
The bird was killed by shots fired from a shotgun, with small game ammunition, which were fired intentionally and at a short distance from the animal.
Members of the Team Protection of Nature (Seprona) of the Command of the Civil Guard in Albacete have arrested a resident of Murcia as the alleged perpetrator of a crime against the protection of flora and fauna by killing with a shotgun a bearded vulture in Nerpio (Albacete). The agents of the Seprona were aware of the death of a specimen of bearded vulture on the 21st of last February in the municipality of Nerpio, as reported by the Civil Guard on Tuesday in a press release. Environmental agents of the province located the carcass of the animal that, after its collection, was transferred to the Wildlife Recovery Center of Albacete for analysis and study. The speed of this action allowed to collect relevant information for the investigation, and from this moment the Seprona developed several lines of investigation, which managed to collect data on the movements of the raptor, those relating to his necropsy and the people who, on the day of the death of the bearded vulture, could be developing some kind of activity in this area.
Died from “conscious” and “voluntary” gunshots.
Once all this information was gathered, the investigations revealed that the bird died from shots fired from a shotgun, with small game ammunition, also specifying that the shot that caused its death was from a short distance, finding in its body up to 32 lead projectiles. The Bearded Vulture shot, named ‘Lopezosa‘, is a species included in the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species, in the category of ‘in danger of extinction’, being the fifth chick born in the wild from one of the first pairs to be formed after the reintroduction of this species in 2006, being also the last of the same. This is a historic milestone in the conservation of the species, considering that 18 years after the beginning of the reintroduction project, only 17 chicks have been born in the field, which gives an idea of the biological importance and the negative impact of events such as the one investigated. The person arrested, according to the Penal Code for crimes against the protection of flora and fauna, could face a prison sentence of six months to two years, a fine of eight to twenty-four months and disqualification from hunting for two years. The proceedings conducted by the Seprona of the Civil Guard of Albacete have been placed at the disposal of the Court of Instruction of Hellin, which has understood the proceedings.
Third case in seven years
Since 2017, there have been three cases of death by gunshot of bearded vulture specimens in the province of Albacete. With this latest case, which occurred in February 2024, the Nature Protection Service has investigated a total of six people for the commission of three crimes against the protection of flora and fauna.
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