In Engelhartszell (Upper Austria), unknown persons shot two protected birds with shotguns and dumped them in a grove on the banks of the Danube. The bird protection organization BirdLife has filed a criminal complaint, the State Criminal Investigation Department is investigating.
The pathological examination has now confirmed this: two black storks found dead on August 6 in a bush on the banks of the Danube in Jochenstein (Engelhartszell) were shot. “There was shotgun ammunition in the bodies,” said Johannes Hohenegger of BirdLife, who has now filed a criminal complaint alleging deliberate harm to the animal and plant population. The investigation is being carried out by the State Criminal Investigation Service of Upper Austria.
Location was not a crime scene
The killed black storks were two adult males. “The location should not have been the crime scene,” Hohenegger insists. The carcasses were only very close together and not far from a path – an atypical finding situation. “We therefore hope that passers-by have seen a suspect.” The perpetrators risk up to two years in prison.
Few breeding pairs
There are currently only 45 breeding pairs of black storks in Upper Austria, the animals are strictly protected all year round: Hohenegger: “Any loss is therefore dramatic.”
Incidentally, Jochenstein is not far from the village of Watzing (St. Roman), where a fishmonger shot a protected blue heron at the end of December.
Source: Krone
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