The bird was fitted with the transmitter on 05.06.2018 near Dornstedt (Saalekreis, Saxony-Anhalt) as part of a research project commissioned by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) to study the flight paths of birds in their breeding grounds. "The device worked perfectly and we were able to follow the bird's paths exactly for 5 days and collect important data," said biologist Ubbo Mammen from the expert office Ökotop in Halle. This changed in the morning of 11.06.2018, when the transmitter reported that the bird's location had not changed for several hours. "This is typical for a dead or injured bird," said Mammen, who left a short time later to retrieve the bird. The last position report came from a wheat field on the eastern outskirts of Asendorf, about one kilometre from its eyrie. After a short search, they finally managed to find the transmitter. "The tear-resistant Teflon tape with which we had attached the device to the bird had been cut through with a smooth cut," reports Ubbo Mammen. However, there was no trace of the bird with a wingspan of about 1.70 metres.
What is certain is that the red kite had fallen into human hands and the transmitter had been removed with a sharp blade. Additional data recorded in the memory shows that this happened in the area of a poultry farm on the western outskirts of Asendorf, where the bird landed shortly after 7 am on June 11th and immediately got into a position untypical for the species. "The transmitter was later detached and transported to the cornfield about a kilometre away, where we found it," Mammen suspects. The police have already started investigations.
Source
Komitee gegen den Vogelmord e.V.
Committee Against Bird Slaughter (CABS)
An der Ziegelei 8, D-53127 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49 228/665521
Fax: +49 228/665280
Email: info(at)komitee.de
