White-Tailed Eagle in Lower Austria Hit by Train After Gunshot Injury: Dead

"Dante" was equipped with a GPS transmitter in 2020 in the Donau-Auen National Park for behavioral observation. In May, the signal registered no movement for several hours. BirdLife then initiated a search operation, and the deceased bird was discovered next to a railway track.

White-tailed eagle was significantly impaired after gunshot injury

An autopsy by the University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna determined the cause of death to be the collision with the train. "Due to the shotgun pellet, the animal was nearly blind in one eye and thus impaired in hunting prey. It likely searched along the tracks for carrion as food," the statement said.

WWF and BirdLife, meanwhile, called for a nationwide action plan against the illegal persecution of strictly protected species. A "coordinated approach" and "strict measures against wildlife crime" are needed.

(APA/Red.)

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