Cross-border "identification of missing persons" operation: two raccoons (Egyptian vultures), whose tracks were lost in 2021 in Yemen, were identified by volunteers from Poland and Portugal, by watching the YouTube channel: "Charter Group Birdcams Online Birds, Charter Group", by Dr. Muti Charter from the university and the Shamir Research Institute. "Just like the eagles that know no borders and fly around Europe, the East Middle East and Africa, my affection for eagles ignores international borders. When I started watching the cameras I became aware of the effort to monitor and preserve the birds of prey in Israel. I follow and watch out of empathy and a desire to help the bird of prey conservation project," said Rosa Xavier from Portugal, who recognized one of the merciful and volunteers to edit the YouTube.
When Dr. Charter started his YouTube channel Birds Online The Charter Group, he also did not believe that his followers would be so sharp-eyed. The channel allows viewers from all over the world to follow via cameras that broadcast live from the nesting sites 24/7 all year round After the day-to-day life of birds and especially birds of prey, starting with owls and ending with eagles 115,000 members and over 90 million views make the site the largest nature channel in Israel, with followers coming from all over the world, including 13 volunteers who coordinate the observations and spend many hours watching and updating Dr. Charter on unusual occurrences and phenomena.
At the beginning of the month, he received an update from Marcin Zidron from Poland, who told him that he had spotted cameras at a feeding station for the eagles in Hai Bar in Carmel Raham that he did not know. Raham is a small species of vulture that is in danger of extinction and it is important to track and monitor every single detail, so Zidron hurried to update Dr. Charter. Zaydron also gave the number of the small cyboni ring he identified on Raham's leg: IB9. About two weeks later, Dr. R. Charter again reported, this time on two mercy, again from Chai Bar, and this time from Rosa Xavier from Protogal. One of them was again IB9 and next to it was another uterus, even number IB3.
Dr. Charter hastened to report to PhD student Ran Efrat from Ben Gurion University who researches and monitors the raccoons in Israel and his answer was extraordinary: these are two raccoons that hatched in the wild as part of the "Forishim Kanaf" breeding project of the Nature and Parks Authority in cooperation with the Electricity Company and the Society for the Protection of Nature in June 2020 and the connection They were lost in 2021, when they were in the Yemen region. "Before their release into the wild in December 2020 GPS transmitters were attached to them and they went on a wandering journey towards Saudi Arabia and Yemen. In August 2021, two days apart, the GPS transmitters stopped transmitting signals from the Yemen region, their fate was unclear and the working assumption was that they did not survive. Thanks to this observation, we understand that the survival of the raccoon population is higher than we previously thought," said Efrat.
According to Dr. Charter, the fact that two amateur observers are the ones who identified the merganser, an endangered species, through watching the Charter Group's Birds Online YouTube channel, highlights the enormous importance of citizen science in protecting wildlife.
"Birds Online The Charter Group strives to connect people from all walks of life to the wonders of bird life. These observations are an example of how through the lens of technology, each and every one of us can foster awareness of bird conservation and make a significant contribution to scientific knowledge. The power of citizen science is on full display with The reappearance of these mercies highlights the importance of cooperation between passionate people around the world to protect and preserve life the bar dear to us," said Dr. Charter.
About a week ago, the University of Haifa was ranked among the 200 best universities in the world in the sustainability index of Times Higher Education and in 45th place in the world in the category of "protection of animals on earth". The research and citizen science projects led by Dr. Charter are part of the reasons for the high ranking of Haifa University in this category.
Photo: Yossi Avgana
The video clip of the mercy watched on the YouTube channel:
To watch and join the Charter Group Birdcams channel:
