WILDFIRE EMERGENCY

The recent wildfire that has affected the provinces of Ávila, Madrid and Toledo has become the largest ever recorded in our country. This environmental disaster has caused the death and injury of thousands of animals, some of which are being admitted to our Wildlife Hospital, and is also directly affecting the work and projects that GREFA has been carrying out in that area for decades.

Most of the individuals of threatened species that we monitor are fitted with GPS transmitters, which have enabled us to keep them under constant surveillance during the emergency, track their movements, detect potential serious problems and even coordinate rescues in collaboration with forest rangers. The GPS devices thus serve not only as a valuable scientific tool but also as a means of ensuring the safety and welfare of the animals carrying them.

The aim of this campaign is to fit two cinereous vultures with GPS transmitters, as well as to replace the transmitters on a pair of Bonelli’s eagles whose territory has been ravaged by fire, as the female’s transmitter reached the end of its useful life months ago and has since stopped working, whilst the male’s is also beginning to fail.

We also intend to build nesting platforms for black vultures, as the fire has destroyed many of their nests in the affected area. This led to the death of dozens of chicks that were not yet ready to fly, but beyond the tragedy of all these deaths, there is the problem that the surviving adults will have no suitable substrate on which to lay their eggs in future breeding seasons.

You can help us protect wildlife. And one of the best ways we can do this is through technology that allows us to monitor individuals in real time.