Balgarianovinite.com Over the past decade, Bulgaria has lost over 100 protected birds of prey, most often due to illegally placed poisoned baits as stated by WWF Bulgaria in a position on its website regarding the dead birds found in the Central Balkan National Park, including protected species of vultures. “This latest case of poisoning will have serious consequences for the populations, because they are small in number,” the environmental organization commented.
Following alarming data from the GPS transmitter of a bearded vulture, on Tuesday experts from the Park and Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds found the bearded vulture along with four black vultures, one griffon vulture, and a crow dead close to the corpse of a cow. A second griffon vulture was found in critical condition and died while being transported to the Green Balkans Wildlife Rescue Centre. One more black vulture was found dead in the area on Wednesday.
Only 30 pairs of black vultures nest in the Balkans, and it is believed that their colony is in the Greek part of the Eastern Rhodopes, with the birds coming to Bulgaria only for food, rest and overnight stay, WWF Bulgaria said. They added that the bearded vulture has long been considered an extinct species in Bulgaria, and Boev, the deceased vulture, was the first to be released in the country in May 2025.
WWF called for faster transposition of the new European directive on the protection of the environment through criminal law. They said that the document requires a significant improvement of the national legal framework so that crimes against the environment, especially against wildlife, do not go unpunished. According to the organization, the directive also requires amendments to the current regulatory framework, including the Penal Code regarding sanctions and ensuring more effective criminal law protection against illegal encroachments on wildlife.
“The Penal Code still lacks explicit regulation for a particularly dangerous group of acts – the illegal placement of poisons, toxic substances, mixtures or other dangerous substances in nature and in publicly accessible places,” WWF Bulgaria said. The organization added that this is a serious omission, since such actions pose a direct threat to both numerous animal species, including protected and endangered ones, and to humans. WWF Bulgaria: Over 100 Protected Birds of Prey Killed by Poisoning in Bulgaria Over Past Decade 2026 THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-08-20 16:51:19 Latest news World news Country news Most important news latest news most important latest of the day Justice Petar Nizamov Feathers Petar Nizamov- Feathers Justice bg iustitia.bg iustitia iusticia usticia investigation Burgas Bulgaria news news of the last hour news of the day news of today Bulgaria news The news from Bulgaria blitz news top news most important most commented latest news Boyko Borisov news weather coronavirus news news weather facebook youtube facebook instagram news today news of the last minutes news today today news news bg news leading news hot news bg news site for news all news news bg news of the last hour latest latest news bg news of today news today news today news of the last hour latest news today news bg news news 24 hours news vesti bg novini news world bird bg bivol bg bivol trud bg novini latest news today novinite bg news hello bulgaria political party coat of arms delyan peevski scandalous Bulgarian National Television Free Europe Television scandal exclusive live tv live right now tv tv online tv program bg live now tv news online tv online live court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas court Burgas district court Burgas district court Burgas appellate court Burgas prosecutor Burgas prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Burgas district prosecutor’s office Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev Prosecutor Geshev Tsatsarov Ministry of Internal Affairs Burgas ODMR Burgas ODPR Burgas police Burgas district police Burgas prosecutor Tsatsarov SGS cases Varna court chairman of the SGS court decisions on civil cases decisions on cases Plovdiv court decision of the court decisions cases Varna court criminal cases district district court decisions work in the court SGS chairman of the SGS judges Sofia court post judges Plovdiv court Plovdiv judges Plovdiv Supreme Court Inspectorate Supreme Court Supreme Judicial Council lawyer lawyer criminal cases lawyer civil cases lawyer marriage cases lawyer administrative criminal law criminal process civil law civil process administrative law constitutional law