On March 13, the Wildlife Recovery Center of COFIB in Mallorca was notified by a private individual of the discovery of an injured kite (Milvus milvus) in the municipality of Campos, where COFIB technicians went to transfer it to its facilities located in Santa Eugenia. There, and during the veterinary examination, it was found to be an adult female with a crippled wing and a fractured leg.

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Species Protection Service

The Species Protection Service of the General Directorate of Natural Environment and Forest Management and the Consortium for the Recovery of the Fauna of the Balearic Islands (COFIB) explained that, after a long recovery process, today Thursday the animal has been released equipped with a satellite tracking transmitter, alars marks and official metal ring, which have been placed with the support of the Balearic Group of Ornithology and Defence of Nature (GOB) and that will allow the monitoring of the specimen and control its adaptation back to nature.

During 2023 a total of 30 specimens of this endangered species have been admitted to COFIB with different pathologies, of which 14 have recovered and have been released into the wild. On the other hand, thanks to the monitoring carried out by the Environmental Agents during the breeding season, 15 chicks have been extracted from the breeding population of Mallorca and have been transferred to the autonomous community of Andalusia to support the project of reintroduction and population reinforcement of the species in the natural park of Sierras de Cazorla, Segura and Las Villas, in the province of Jaén.

The kite is a species listed as “In danger of extinction” by Royal Decree 139/2011, of February 4, for the development of the List of Wild Species under the Special Protection Regime and the Spanish Catalogue of Threatened Species. In the latest revision of the Red Book of the Vertebrates of the Balearic Islands, it is classified as “Near Threatened”. In the Red Book of Birds of Spain, it appears as “Endangered”. Likewise, at the international level, it is included in Annex 1 of the Birds Directive and in Appendix 2 of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.