4mo ago

Cyprus Scops Rescued from Poachers

I came upon a post from a European group that combats bird poaching. They were discussing a recent operation in Cyprus to try and stop a well known poacher. The post focused on owls being a common bycatch in poaching nets.

They recovered a few owls, but this Cyprus Scops, found only on that island, was thankfully rescued unharmed.

If you want to learn more about this story or the organisation, I've put the post and link to their website in the spoiler tag so you don't have to read it if you don't want to. It has some discussion of harmed owls, but nothing too graphic. It also has a pic of the uninjured Scops how it was found in the net.

I left out the photos of the injured birds, and hesitated to share this as a post, but I feel it's important to know this type of activity goes on in all parts of the world and there are dedicated people fighting against it. It's a hard subject to read about, but that's the only way to understand the problem and begin to try and fix it.

This is the first I've heard of them, so I can't judge them as an organization, but I thought it was a beautiful owl they saved. The eyes look amazing in the photo!

English translation and original German post

From Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V. (Committee Against Bird Slaughter)

Owls to be thrown away

Nets are brutal trapping devices in which everything that flies by becomes indiscriminately entangled. Poachers in Cyprus use them primarily to catch warblers and other small songbirds. They are considered a seasonal delicacy and bring in a lot of money on the black market. Anything inedible is carelessly torn from the nets and thrown away. This "bycatch" in Cyprus primarily includes owls.

The teams of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter often find their remains at the trapping sites – feathers, mummified birds, and occasionally even live animals. During this year's autumn operation, we have found four so far: a barn owl, two long-eared owls, and a Cyprus scops owl – an endemic species to the Mediterranean island.

The barn owl and one of the long-eared owls were already dead. The second long-eared owl is still alive but has such severe injuries that our veterinarian cannot yet say whether it will survive. The scops owl was lucky in its misfortune, however; it was freed from a net unharmed. A nice sense of achievement nonetheless!

Eulen zum wegwerfen: Netze sind brutale Fanggeräte, in denen sich wahllos alles verheddert, was vorbeifliegt. Die Wilderer auf Zypern verwenden sie vor allem, um Grasmücken und andere kleine Singvögel zu erbeuten. Sie gelten als saisonale Delikatesse und bringen auf dem Schwarzmarkt viel Geld ein. Was nicht essbar ist, wird achtlos aus den Netzen gerissen und weggeworfen. Zu diesem „Beifang" gehören auf Zypern vor allem Eulen. Die Teams des Komitees gegen den Vogelmord finden an den Fangstellen oft ihre Überreste - Federn, mumifizierte Vögel und gelegentlich auch noch lebende Tiere. Während des diesjährigen Herbsteinsatzes haben wir bislang vier gefunden: Eine Schleiereule, zwei Waldohreulen und eine Zypern-Zwergohreule - eine endemische Art auf der Mittelmeerinsel. Die Schleiereule und eine der Waldohreulen waren bereits tot. Die zweite Waldohreule lebt noch, hat aber so schwere Verletzungen, dass unser Tierarzt noch nicht sagen kann, ob sie überleben wird. Die Zwergohreule hatte aber Glück im Unglück, sie konnte unversehrt aus einem Netz befreit werden. Immerhin ein schönes Erfolgserlebnis!