A Very Black Friday 13th

Today SEO/Birdlife Spain announced what would appear to be a very bad start to the year for the extremely vulnerable Spanish Imperial Eagle. Six birds were found dead due to poisoning in la Encomienda de Mudela in the southern part of Ciudad Real. And here´s the worst part, the property is owned and run by the regional National Parks authority, part of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment. Aren´t they supposed to be protecting these birds and not laying poison?

I have mentioned this area before since the picture above was taken on a very memorable day when I saw an adult and this juvenile flying above me. La Encomienda de Mudela is also a large area reserved for the hunting of partridge and rabbits where I have also written about the restrictions of access to the area. I wonder is this bird still flying or one of the six found poisoned?

Due to the protected nature of the bird, killing one carries a penalty of at least three years which doesn´t really seem to be enough, but perhaps they could give 3 years for each bird to those involved and send them away for 18 years. This might help send the message that widespread laying of poison will not be tolerated.