Juanita, one of the five Egyptian vultures freed in Basilicata in 2021 as part of the LIFE Egyptian vulture project, unfortunately died due to electrocution.
A week after her release, which took place on August 20th 2021, Juanita made a significant move that led her to reach the Adriatic coast of Puglia. After traveling 120 km, while he was heading back towards Basilicata, the young Egyptian vulture alighted on the support of a medium voltage power line in the countryside near Gioia del Colle (BA), outside the project area, and had no escape.
His premature death is added to that of Lucrezia, which occurred in 2020 one year after her release.
These episodes, which have been detected thanks to the monitoring of animals using GPS, confirm that uninsulated power lines are dangerous especially in areas with scarcity of trees where the supports of the lines represent perfect and rare perches.
The isolation interventions carried out by E-Distribuzione in sensitive areas for the Egyptian vulture as part of the LIFE Egyptian vulture project are very important for the protection of both this species and many other bird species that have a medium to large wingspan. It is therefore necessary to keep going on with these interventions, implementing a well-planned long-term strategy, starting with protected areas and those areas that are most important for vulnerable to electrocution bird species.
