‘Spy vulture’ thrown in jail by Yemeni fighters
SANAA: Griffon vulture Nelson crossed into war-torn Yemen in search of food but ended up in the hands of Yemeni fighters – and temporarily in jail for suspected espionage.
The sand-coloured bird came down in the country’s third city of Taez, an unusual move for a young vulture that can soar for long distances across continents in search of food and moderate weather.
Nelson, approximately two years old, embarked on his journey in September 2018 from Bulgaria, where his wing was tagged and equipped with a satellite transmitter by the Fund for Wild Fauna and Flora (FWFF).
But he seemed to have lost his way, eventually coming down into Taez – under siege by Houthi rebels but controlled by pro-government forces, who mistook Nelson’s satellite transmitter for an espionage device and detained the bird.
Forces loyal to the government believed that the GPS tracker attached to the bird may have been a spy device for the rebels.
Hisham al-Hoot, who represents the FWFF in Yemen, travelled from the rebel-held capital Sanaa to Taez to plead with local officials to release the helpless animal.
“It took about 12 days to get the bird,” he said.
“The Bulgarian foreign ministry reached out to the Yemeni ambassador, who then contacted local officials (in Taez) and told them to immediately give the organisation the vulture.”
Hoot said that the bird migrated from Bulgaria, to Turkey, to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and then Yemen – where the FWFF lost track of the bird.
Nelson was gone until April 5, when the conservation group received hundreds of messages from Yemenis concerned about the bird’s welfare.
Today, the locally-famous vulture is being properly fed and getting stronger every day.
“When we first took him, he was in very bad condition,” said Hoot, adding that the bird was underweight.
Smiling, he puts on gloves and carefully handles the majestic creature – blowing it a kiss.
Hoot said the bird will be released in two months when he believes Nelson will have regained his full strength and his wing – broken somewhere during his journey – will have healed.
“We thought at first it would take six months for him to heal, but now we don’t think it will be more than two months,” he said.
Hoot said that Nelson was not able to find any source of sustenance in Yemen.