In a statement, Quercus says that the centres, located in Castelo Branco, Montejunto, Lisbon district, and Santo André, Setúbal, received 437 injured wild animals.

Among the more than 87 species are: storks, owls, eagles, vultures, hedgehogs, otters and badgers, with some of those species having a high conservation status, such as the black-vulture, the Milhafre-Real, the Peregrine Falcon and the Abelheiro Falcon.

The animals were collected by the Nature and Environment Protection Service of the GNR, by nature watchers at the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests and, to a lesser extent, by private individuals.

The wild species are collected or seized, taken to the centres, treated and, whenever possible, returned to the natural environment after recovery.

“The work that has been done by these three Recovery Centres of wild animals of Quercus in the nature conservation area is very relevant, because the recovered animals are returned to their natural habitat after recovering, contributing to a greater conservation of the population of endangered species”, highlights the environmental association.

Quercus also adds that the centres gather case-by-case information, which is then channelled through expert reports, or communications to different entities (prosecutors, law enforcement officials, Municipalities, ICNF, road network concessionaires, electricity distribution companies, etc), so that legal measures can be taken, in cases of crime, or others, in order to minimise or eliminate the threat factors of these species.

“Examples of this are the black spots in the road network, the points of electrocution and the collision of birds in the electricity distribution network of medium and high voltage, the cases of poisoning and birds injured by gunshot, the animals caught in traps, among others, thus allowing the application of measures to minimise threats to biodiversity”, says the association.