Eight vultures released into the wild

Eight vultures were released into the wild on Wednesday after being sent to the island from Spain to help boost the population here, BirdLife said.

They are expected to be followed by the release of seven more birds next week.

The 15 birds donated by the Spanish government arrived on the island in November.

“The donation is part of a big effort aimed at protecting and restoring our vulture population, which faces extinction in Cyprus due to the illegal activities carried out by poachers, who lure the birds with poisoned baits,” BirdLife Cyprus campaign manager Melpo Apostolidou said.

“The need to boost the vulture population was imperative, as only eight individuals were left in the country.”

Game Fund officer Nikos Kasinis told the Cyrus News Agency that the birds were fitted with GPS trackers to monitor their movement and to be able to detect any arising issues.

He added that specially trained dogs are currently being used to detect and destroy poisoned baits.