As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Thursday 11 February 2016

Jail Bird Set Free: Lebanon Returns Israeli ‘Spy Vulture’


21:45 29.01.2016Get short URL

The Lebanese government returned a vulture, which it mistakenly thought to be a Mossad spy, back to Israel, according to the radio station Reshet Bet.

Earlier this week, residents of the Lebanese town of Bint Jbeil caught a griffon vulture which had a GPS transmitter. People thought the bird of prey belonged to the Israeli Special Service and that it flew to Lebanon to gather intelligence. Bint Jbeil is about 4 km away from Israel's border.

"Reports passed to us show the vulture tied with a rope by local people who write that they suspect Israeli espionage, apparently because of the transmitter attached to him," Israel's nature reserve authorities were quoted as saying, according to the Guardian.

However, when members of the Lebanese Secret Service inspected the bird, they found
Israeli ornithologists were contacted who immediately identified the bird based on its description and pictures. Turns out, the bird of prey was brought to Israel from Spain last year to increase the population of griffon vultures in the country, the source said.

After Lebanese authorities learned that the vulture was not a ‘spy' working for Israel, the bird was set free in the same area it was caught,CNN said.


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