2 condors released into Bolivian wild as probe held into mass poisoning 2 minutes read
Choquekota, Bolivia, Feb 23 (efe-epa).- Two female condors rescued in a rural Bolivian community were returned to their natural habitat on Tuesday after undergoing a rehabilitation process in the municipal biopark of La Paz and as an investigation is underway in the south of the country into the death of around 30 such birds by poisoning.
The birds, named Choquekota and Retamani, were released on a hill near the rural community of Choquekota, in the southern municipality of Palca of the capital city.
The release was led by Deputy Environment Minister Magin Herrera, the director of companies and entities of La Paz Mayor’s Office, Verónica Rojas, officials of the national government and of the municipalities of La Paz and Palca, as well as indigenous authorities.
Slideshow ( 3 images )
LA PAZ (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.