Sudan: Efforts to protect migrating birds' haven

24 April 2014 Last updated at 16:34 BST

The Al-Magran nature reserve in Khartoum has been a haven for migrating birds since 1945 - but many of the species found there are endangered because of hunting, environmental damage and farming.

Now environmental campaigners in Sudan are hoping that promoting the country as a tourist destination for bird watchers could boost revenue, which could then be used to protect nesting sites and rare birds from extinction.

Hadya Alalawi reports.

Video produced by BBC Arabic's Mohamed Osmanhttp://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-27124722

Sudan's 'killer power line' is disconnected

February 2014: The notorious power line from Port Sudan to the Red Sea coast, which is reported to have electrocuted hundreds, if not thousands, of migrating Endangered Egyptian vultures since its construction in the 1950s, has been disconnected. The most recent survey found, during the month of September, the carcasses of 17 Egyptian vultures along the power line.

This decisive action by the Sudanese government and power company officials follows years of work by BSPB (BirdLife in Bulgaria), and BirdLife’s UNDP/GEF Migratory Soaring Birds (MSB) project and its local NGO partner, the Sudanese Wildlife Society (SWS).

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Sudan’s killer power line to be replaced to protect Endangered Egyptian vultures

Sudan government acts on "killer power line"

September 2013. A workshop of the Migratory Soaring Birds (MSB) project led by BirdLife International and the United Nations Development Program has prompted the Sudanese government to replace one of the most deadly power lines in Africa for large migratory birds , the Port Sudan "killer line".

Thousands of Endangered Egyptian vultures killed

In particular the 31-km long power line is estimated to have killed hundreds and perhaps thousands of Egyptian Vultures since it was constructed in the 1950s. The most recent survey found, during the month of September alone, the carcasses of 17 Egyptian vultures along the power line. All the carcasses were found under power poles, 15 under metal poles and two under concrete poles, making electrocution the most likely cause of death.

The March 2013 workshop, funded by the MSB project, was presented by the Sudanese Wildlife Society (SWS) who is the local non-governmental partner in the project. The opening session was held at the offices of the Sudanese Company for Electricity Transmission. Guests included the Director General and senior engineers of the Electricity Transmission Company, the Director of the Sudanese Electricity Distribution Company, the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, and the Director General of the Wildlife Conservation General Administration.

The President of SWS, Professor Ibrahim Hashim, gave a presentation about the impact of power lines on migratory soaring birds, with the emphasis on the Port Sudan "killer line". He then introduced the MSB project guidance materials on bird-sensitive power line development.

"Responses from the distinguished speakers were positive", said Ibrahim Hashim. "All of them stressed the importance of solving the killer power line. The Director of the Electricity Company emphasised the impact of the killer line on birds, as well as the power loss due to electrocution, and he promised to solve the problem."

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/egyptian-vultures-sudan.html

Another Israeli 'Spy Bird' Nabbed, This Time By Sudan

For the second time in two years, one of Israel's neighbors claims to have intercepted a spy bird deployed by Israel.

Not a satellite or drone. An actual bird.

Sudanese officials have bagged a vulture tagged with an Israeli GPS chip, labeled with “Israel Nature Service” and “Hebrew University, Jerusalem,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported. 

Sudan is located south of Israel on the Red Sea, bording Egypt and Ethiopia.

In January, 2011, it was Saudi Arabia that caught an Israeli "spy" vulture, though that one was afiliated with Tel Aviv University. A month earlier, Egyptian officials had claimed Israeli agents had somehow provoked sharks to attack swimmers off the Egyptian coast.

Relations between Israel and Sudan have been tense since an airstrike destroyed a weapons manufacturing compound in Khartoum in October. Though Sudan blamed Israel, the Jewish state neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the bombing. 

In fact, Israeli conservation officials often tag wild birds that visit Israel as part of their migration paths with GPS chips for ornithological study. The vulture caught in Sudan is capable of flying 600km a day. “This is a young vulture that was tagged, along with 100 others, in October. He has two wing bands and a German-made GPS chip,” said Ohad Hazofe, an ecologist with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority. 

Continued:  http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/israel-news/another-israeli-spy-bird-nabbed-time-sudan