Last update - 00:00 12/07/2007
Cattle herders suspected of poisoning 8 animals in land dispute
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz Correspondent
Nature and Parks Authority (NPA) officials suspect that a dispute over the control of pasture lands between cattle herders is responsible for the eight poisoned animals discovered Wednesday in the village of Achbara near Safed.
Six cows, a wild boar and a jackal died of poisoning after eating tainted fruit.
The team of NPA inspectors found traces of Temic poison in the animal carcasses, a deadly pesticide which can only be used with the approval of the Agriculture Ministry.
In the past,Haaretz has reported the use of Temic poison in disputes between cattle herders over pasture lands ? and the deadly affect they have on animals and birds of prey in Galilee. Last month, nine vultures were found dead at the Gamla Nature Reserve after eating a poisoned carcass.
Officials were optimistic that birds of prey were not poisoned Wednesday as the carcasses were found soon after the animals had died.
For a number of years the vulture population in Israel has been declining. Some 460 vultures were counted here in the summer of 2002, and only 228 last year. There has also been a decline in the number of active nests, from 107 in 2000 to just 65 this year. There are a number of factors behind the vultures' shrinking population, but the worst damage has been caused by the poisonings.