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The Goshawk
On the 27th January 2005 a Goshawk was found and rescued by Dr Adrian Gheorghe and some friends, near the town of Filiaşi in Romania. The Goshawk had been wounded in the leg by a hunter. It was given the name Irinel. After treatment, the bird will be set free.
The eyes of the Goshawk are clear and healthy.
Goshawk means Goose Hawk, a hawk big enough to attack a goose, like a smaller hawk called for similar reasons a Sparrow Hawk, since it can attack only birds the size of sparrows.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
The Goshawk when first captured, after it had been wounded by a hunter. In Romania it is a national sport to catch birds and to kill them. The scientific name is Accipiter gentilis (Order Falconiformes, Family Accipitridae), called in Romanian "Uliu Porumbar".
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
In the north west of Oltenia there are members of the hawk family such as this one, who eat many birds. They are a raptor, this is to be expected.
It is a daily hunter after birds, and it is protected by several laws: 462/2001, 13/1993, and 654/2001
Some people put a dove in a cage in a tree and a trap near the caged dove and wait for a hawk to arrive. The hawk is usually wounded by the iron trap. After this they kill the hawk and sometimes eat it.
This shows the bird being handled with thick gloves to avoid the handler being gashed by the sharp beak.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Irinel was caught after being found injured by a boy from Turburea/Gorj and was sent to Dr Gheorghe by his sister, Irina, to save him, because no Zoo would accept him.
Dr Gheorghe took the hawk and gave him food, water and medical assistance.
The bird seemed otherwise uninjured, so the prognosis for full recovery is good.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
A temporary cage was created from a laundry basket. This worked well, but a more permanent structure with room to move for the Goshawk was urgently needed.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
A friend of Dr Gheorghe, Gidea-Sandutu Vergica, manager at S.C.Gidea Construct S.R.L., got his workers to make a cage from iron for the bird.
An appropriately sized cage was quickly and competently constructed by a concerted group effort. The result was an excellent cage which will assist in the bird's recovery.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
The bird was introduced to the cage, and settled in very quickly in its new abode. The cage was "furnished" with appropriate branches and other vegetation.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
The cage with the bird was then put with Gheorghe Enache in Upper Racari, who is taking care of him. Dr Gheorghe contacted Oltenia Museum, in particular the specialist Popescu Aurelian, and sent him photos and was sent data about the bird in return.
In Romanian, the Goshawk is called "Uliu Porumbar". Specialists from Oltenia Museum will come to inspect Irinel and to give information about how to take care of it.
Sometime in the future, after the wounded leg is healed, Dr Gheorghe will set the bird free, with a special ring on the leg, to show to anyone that it is a bird protected by the law, three Romanian laws and an international one, to preserve his life in the future from hunters.
Dr Gheorghe has also decided to make a lot of posters with the texts of those laws about birds and put them up in all the communities of this part of Oltenia, for the information of the people about the rules in bird-hunting.
Because of extreme winter cold, our helper, Gheorghe Enache, who is taking care of Irinel, put him in a concrete cage, to protect him from the cold, in this hard winter of 2004 - 2005.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Here is Irinel in the concrete cage, very much alive. He eats any meat given to him, such as pork, chicken etc, and is still strong - he wounded Gheorghe Enache lightly in the arm. The bird still has a big problem with his wounded right leg. We do not know if it will regain the use of its right leg.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
By the 23rd February 2005 Irinel was eating well. He is a real warrior, but his leg had died forever, and Dr Gheorghe was afraid that Irinel would lose his life as well. Dr Gheorghe and his friends had done all they could, but the wound was deep, and the leg was broken.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Irinel was well looked after by the team responsible for her care and feeding. It was a joy to be helping a brave and resourceful eagle such as this to live to fly another day.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Although Irinel had one leg which was in a bad way, the other was still in good working order, so his carers had to be careful of the sharp claws even while caring for the wounded leg, and had to wear protective clothing to avoid being wounded themselves!
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Despite the problems faced by Irinel the bird was still in good spirits.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Dr Gheorghe asked a veterinarian, Dr Roman from Filiaşito take the hawk and go at Craiova with him at a special clinic for animals there, and consult with Dr Ticlea and Dr Safta about the hawk. It was decided at this time that the best option would be for the doctors to operate on him and that the operation would probably cost about 5 Euro for transport and about 25 Euro for the operation.
If the doctors were to decide that Irinel was past caring for, they would kill him in optimal conditions, by euthanesia.
Dr Gheorghe was willing, if necessary, to care for Irinel for the rest of his natural life.
On the 24th February 2005, between 18.00-19.00 hours (Bucharest time), the hawk Irinel was operated on by Dr Safta in a clinic for animals in Craiova, in optimal conditions.
The prognosis after the surgical operation was good. The doctor cut the right leg of Irinel at the knee.
After 3-4 days it would be possible to put Irinel in his own cage, but till then he rested in a warm room for protection.
Dr Safta and Dr Roman Nicoleta did the operation at no cost. They are to be thanked for this very kind act. The doctors decided that, at the end of March, Irinel could be set free.
Irinel was set free at the beginning of spring. He was ready to fly, he wounded himself trying to fly in his cage. He was taken in a car to the Cerat neolithical site, near Racarii de Sus.
For sentimental reasons, one or two small feathers were taken from Irinel to remember him by.
At Cerat the wind was very strong on the morning when Irinel was set free, as may be seen on the photo, and Irinel flew like an arrow to the east, rested for about an hour near a small forest (a lot of small birds were very afraid of him) and than flew for ever to the mountains.
So, the Irinel project was finished by Gheorghe Adrian, Enache Gheorghe and our friends Gidea-Sandutu Vergica, Dr Roman Nicoleta and Tuliga Irina.
Photo: Adrian Gheorghe
Later news!
The project has been very successful. Irinel is alive and well as of January 2006. He was seen by many people in the area of Recarii de Sus, once hunting a dove, and another time resting for a while on the roof of a house, standing as he must on one leg!So, after almost a year of freedom, Irinel is still living in the area, and can use his one leg while hunting for prey with few problems.
Irinel is a brave and resourceful animal.
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Alexis Project Filiasi/Romania
RC J/263/230/2007 CIF 21464151
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