Bolivia investigates mystery deaths of 35 giant Andean condors

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09/02/2021 20:53

By Santiago Limachi and Monica Machicao
    LA PAZ, Feb 9 (Reuters) - The mysterious deaths of 35 giant
condors, one of the world's largest flying birds, are being
probed in Bolivia, where they are often found in the Andean
regions.
    The corpses of the condors, a goat and two dogs were found
an hour and a half from the Bolivian city of Tarija, on the
border with Argentina.
    The Andean condor, which can grow as long as 4 feet (1.22 m)
with a huge wingspan of 10.5 feet, is "vulnerable," according to
the International Union for Conservation of Nature. There are
some 6,700 of the species worldwide but numbers are falling,
hurt by issues from lead poisoning, to habitat loss and hunting.
    California Condors are even worse off, designated as
critically endangered.
    "It is very rare to have animals like a goat and three dogs
dead in the same the place where the 35 condors are," said Magin
Herrera Lopez, Bolivia's deputy minister of environment. They
might have died about 10 days ago from poisoning, he added.
    Authorities suspect the goat meat might have been poisoned
and left for wild cats to eat, but it was instead consumed by
the dogs and condors. Tarija's governor has ordered the testing
of samples from the birds.
    Among the dead condors were 17 adult females and 18 adult
males, said Juan de Dios Garay, a biologist from NGO Nativa
Bolivia. Many chicks and un-hatched eggs might have been
abandoned because of the deaths, he added.
    "This worries us a lot," said Herrera Lopez, the government
minister.
    

 (Reporting by Santiago Limachi and Monica Machicao; Writing by
Adam Jourdan; Editing by Richard Chang)
 ((adam.jourdan@thomsonreuters.com; +54 1155446882; Reuters
Messaging: adam.jourdan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))