GNR officers pick up injured short-toed eagle in Ponte de Lima

Officers from the GNR's Freixo territorial post recovered an injured eagle in Friastelas, in the municipality of Ponte de Lima. The bird was made safe and passed on to the competent authorities, working with the national nature conservation institute, the ICNF. The species involved is the short-toed eagle, a daytime raptor that feeds mainly on reptiles and lives in rural areas, woodland and scrub. It helps keep prey numbers in check. In Portugal it is classed as Near Threatened, with habitat loss, wildfires and collisions with power lines among the threats it faces.