Poaching and surroundings: Lucca, following investigations, the poacher was identified and reported guilty of killing the very rare specimen of Northern Bald Ibis in San Vincenzo (LU).
The man who last 13 October had killed a very rare specimen of Northern Bald Ibis (Geronticus eremita) and had injured another Ibis in the countryside of San Vincenzo (LU) has been identified; the investigations were conducted by the men of the Forestry Corps of the State of Livorno, the Special Operational Unit of Cecina, and by the Provincial Police of Livorno who reconstructed the movements of the specimens, equipped with a GPS transmitter.
The poacher from Lucca was reported on the loose and was found to be in possession of a regular card and hunting license. As for the two birds killed, they are two specimens of a very rare species in Europe, the subject of a reintroduction project involving Austria and Italy.
The province of Livorno explained that "The fact was reported by Austrian researchers who are part of the international project" Waldrappteam "which aims at the reintroduction of the species, extinct in Europe for centuries". Continuing they comment from the Province "The serious episode of poaching underlines the need for greater compliance with hunting laws".
In other countries, a similar environmental offender could no longer have any chance to go hunting, would suffer a heavy criminal and monetary sentence and would be immediately expelled from his hunting association, while in Italy poachers continue to hunt without many problems, confusing themselves with honest hunters.
Lipu expressed itself with indignation on the matter, whose president, Fulvio Mamone Capria, had denounced a few days ago: "Our Austrian friends who followed the Ibis thanks to the GPS signaler would seem to have been hindered during the recovery of the injured animals, very much probably by the same poachers who hit them. A serious gesture that will have to be investigated by investigators in order to evaluate the possibility of tracing the perpetrators ".
The president of Lipu added that his association “asks that the hunting police controls be strengthened immediately and, where the culprits are identified, has given a mandate to its lawyers to be a civil party in the process. There is an outrage rising internationally over this act of incredible cruelty. Extremely rare birds, testimonials of an international reintroduction project in our country, victims of the ferocity of soulless "shooters". We will ask the Ministry of the Interior to activate specific actions to combat poaching and the Parliament to deal with the issue of increasing penalties for those who violate the law on the protection of fauna. We are facing a serious emergency and urgent and effective responses must be envisaged to defend our wildlife in the face of the madness of poaching ”.
18 October 2012