Crane Juula Arrives in Slano Kopovo

The Estonian crane Juula has arrived at the nature reserve Slano Kopovo for a stopover on its long flight to the wintering grounds in North Africa. Researchers of the Estonian university at Tartu have equipped Juula and two more cranes with transmitters to be able to trace their journey to and from their wintering grounds. The researchers’ website shows the current station of the birds.

Juula, like ten thousands of other cranes, uses the so-called Adriatic Flyway on its trip to the wintering grounds in North Africa. It finds a safe sleeping place in the shallow waters of the salt marsh Slano Kopovo. The vast lowland of Vojvodina with its large acres provides substantial food for the cranes. Fortified, they continue their journey. This is of major importance because undisturbed resting places are hard to find as they further move on towards their wintering grounds. Troops of bird hunters lurk in the few intact wetlands, waiting for migratory birds, thus forcing the cranes to fly non-stop via the Dinaric Alps and the sea to Africa.

Due to the climate change, an increasing number of cranes try to over winter in Central Europe. Hence, alternative refuge areas in the Mediterranean region become more and more important. The over winterers can only survive sudden onsets of extremely cold winter if they can relocate to the warm Adriatic coast in Albania, Croatia or Montenegro for a short period.

EuroNatur and its national partners commit themselves to secure a network of hunting ban areas for migratory birds in these crucial habitats along the Adriatic coast. 130 scientists and conservationists from all over the world adopted a resolution to protect cranes in South-East Europe on the 7th European Crane Conference, which took place in Stralsund from 14-17 October 2010, with EuroNatur attending, too. The goal is to establish safe staging areas between the Hungarian plains and Africa.
 

More about the campaign “Crime Scene Adriatic Sea - Bird Hunting in the Balkans

How you can help

Donation

Future needs nature. EuroNatur cares for it. Please use your possibilities to help. With your donation you will make an effective contribution to a more livable environment.

Sustaining membership

EuroNatur focuses on long-term nature conservation projects instead of quick fixes. With your regular donations, you give us the planning security we need.

News

Skavica mega dam: Albanian court to scrutinise special law for U.S. contractor Bechtel

++ Constitutional complaint filed by NGOs accepted for trial ++ First milestone in fight against one of Europe’s largest reservoirs ++ Thousands of…

Growing opposition to Albanian airport

++ Bern Convention calls on Albania to stop airport construction near Narta Lagoon ++ Project in Vjosa Delta endangers thousands of migratory birds ++…

EU Commission targets the wolf

Ursula von der Leyen warns of allegedly "dangerous wolves" - nature conservation organisations criticise misleading statements and dubious data…

Romanian forests: EuroNatur calls for a logging moratorium

+++ Open letter to Commissioner Sinkevičius calls for a logging moratorium in protected areas to end destruction of Romanian forests +++ Fourth…

Controversial airport construction in Albanian protected area casts shadow as far as Munich

++ Operating company Munich Airport International (MAI) is linked to illegal Vlora airport ++ Construction to take place in protected area of special…

Swimming for the monk seal

The Croatian free water swimmer Dina Levačić has been swimming in potential monk seal territories. Her campaign is aimed at drawing attention to the…

Wolf Offspring confirmed in the Black Forest

++ Photo trap image from the community of Schluchsee provides evidence of offspring ++ First wolf pack in over 150 years in Baden-Württemberg ++

Stork Village meeting in Tykocin, Poland

It was an anniversary celebrated in style: For the 20th annual meeting, representatives of the European Stork Villages met for the first time in the…

A slight sigh of relief for the Dalmatian pelicans

The Dalmatian pelicans at Lake Skadar are breeding successfully. This is all the more gratifying because last year's breeding season was disastrous.