Medium-voltage pylons are a major hazard for large birds such as the Great Horned Owl. Photo: Adrian Aebischer, University of Bern.
Dangerous electricity pylons, the main threat to eagle owls: scientists sound the alarm and call for a national clean-up campaign. We've known for a long time that power lines represent a serious handicap for large birds: for example, a third of our Storks die as a result of a collision with a cable or electrocution. A recent study by the University of Berne demonstrates the devastating effects of electrocution, the main source of anthropogenic mortality, on eagle owl populations. Swiss electricity companies are called upon to take measures to remediate the dangerous pylons that are common throughout the country. The Great Horned Owl is our largest native species of nocturnal raptor. Once persecuted and decimated, this owl is slowly recovering in many parts of Europe, while stagnating or declining in Switzerland, depending on the region. Valais, one of the species' few strongholds in Switzerland, is home to a population of around ten breeding pairs, which has managed to maintain low numbers over the past 20 years.
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