Serbian vulture set free after treatment at Israeli veterinary hospital

A Serbian vulture was released back into the wild on Tuesday, following two months of treatment in an Israeli veterinary hospital.

The vulture was found injured at Kibbutz Lehavot Habashan in northern Israel, and was rushed to an Israeli veterinary hospital specializing in wild animals. There, the bird was diagnosed with mulitple gunshot wounds.

	The Serbian vulture
	Photo by: Courtesy of Galai PR

The vulture was tagged with ring indicating it was from Serbia. Vultures from south-eastern Europe are drawn to Israel’s feeding stations and are quite commonly observed by Israeli bird watchers.

The Serbian Consulate was contacted and was delighted to hear about the bird’s recovery, and Serbian diplomats attended the release of the Serbian "patient" back into the wild.

Flying in the Middle East can be perilous for the scavenger birds, as they are sometime shot by people ignoring the international treaties protecting these birds.

Hundreds of wild animals arrive at Israel’s veterinary hospital for wild animals with gunshot wounds, mostly birds. They are treated by and reintroduced into the wild.

The Israeli veterinary hospital for wildlife is run by the Hai Bar Society, which is an association founded to help the Israel Nature and Parks Authority in its tasks of protecting Israel's nature, landscapes and heritage.

The INPA, in turn, carries out its task by protecting and rehabilitating wildlife (fauna and flora), their ecosystem and cultural heritage sites.