One of our lanner falcons, Calogero, was shot dead a few days ago in the Marche region.

What happened in the municipality of Osimo (AN) is a criminal act that jeopardizes the success of the repopulation project funded by Life LANNER.

Like Carlotta, who is still alive in the province of Rome, and Camilla, who died from electrocution in Sicily, Calogero had also reached his autonomy after the challenging release process using the hacking method.

In this 2024 season, an important milestone has been reached in terms of releases: after the first years of unsuccessful attempts, an excellent result has been achieved in the long-term survival of the young lanner falcons after their release, as they have gained their independence.

And so did Calogero: in the early days of July, after a month of hacking around the release area, he wandered off, only to be recovered by operators in the province of Campobasso, hungry but in good health. He was brought back to the box, like his sisters, where he continued to fly in their company, honing his hunting techniques, and moving several kilometers to return whenever he needed to.

He then permanently left in August, crossing the Apennines and exploring various areas in the Marche region. He frequented agricultural fields but also cemeteries and sanctuaries, where he hunted passerines and collared doves, prey within reach of a male of smaller size compared to the conspecific females, fully reflecting the goal of releasing less elusive animals that suffer less from the relentless push of anthropization, which over time has brought these and other species to the brink of extinction.

It is well known how the scourge of poaching affects dozens of birds of prey and other protected and non-huntable species every year, through data provided thanks to the network of CRAS with which the Life Lanner project interfaces. The approach adopted towards the young lanner falcons, which leads some of them to frequent areas close to urban areas, is not much riskier than the normal wild behaviour that keeps them to a safe distance, especially since it is not allowed to shoot close to urban areas.

And right there, on the border separating an agricultural field from a quiet villa, the last GPS points of the only male lanner falcon that survived so far in the project arrived, where he was found dead. During the search for the animal, given the clear suspicions of death, the owner of a house adjacent to the area of interest complained about the constant presence of hunters who regularly shot near her property, and in the same field, it was not difficult to find dozens of cartridges rudely abandoned, including a shot and unrecovered wood pigeon, probably due to the presence of operators engaged in the search. Once the carcass was found, investigations immediately confirmed the presence of hunting pellets in the animal’s body.

A new terrible news that weighs on the great work that is carried out every day but pushes to commit to countering these events as well.

The illegal activity, committed against a species in a poor state of conservation, is the latest serious episode in the long series of illegal killings recorded in our country and against which the institutions continue to be absent.