Anahita in Prague, this time really
On Saturday, January 22, 2022, a scavenger vulture flew to the Prague Zoo. From Lebanon, by plane.
It is a year and a half old individual who, according to the Zarathustra and Persian goddess, was given the female name Anahita (Czech transcription Anahita); in reality, however, it is not known whether it is a female or a male, and we will have to find out in our country in Prague.
Anahita hatched in the spring of 2020 in the eastern Rhodopes and after leaving the nest, he went to Africa on September 10. However, on the sixth day of the trip, the satellite transmitter, which was marked, was silent. It happened about 25 kilometers southeast of Beirut. It was bad, but not surprising news. According to a recent estimate by the Lebanese Conservation Society (SPNL), 2.6 million birds are killed annually during the migration in this Mediterranean country. And it was the SPNL employees who, accompanied by members of the security forces, immediately set out to look for the transmitter.
And indeed, they immediately found Anahita: with severe injuries and – as it turned out – with 12 to 13 shots in the body.
Nevertheless, the people of SPNL managed to save Anahita. It was clear that he would need long-term treatment and that he would not return to nature. Therefore, the Bulgarian conservationists started trying to get him / her back to Bulgaria and maybe one day to get involved in the breeding program. However, it was not possible to organize this transport due to a number of bureaucratic obstacles. I therefore ask for help We decided to have our zoo; after all, we are much better equipped for such events. Even so, the whole process took four months, and a mere list of all the necessary documents would take up about a third of the scope I have for the Journal.
Now Anahita is finally at our zoo. Perhaps he will recover and at least his / her descendants will return to nature one day.
And by the way: The name of the goddess Anahita has already appeared in connection with Prague. In 2005, the archaeological find of her statue was announced with great glory. It was to be an important evidence of long-distance cultural and trade relations on the northern border of the Roman Empire at the time of the migration of nations. However, it soon became clear that it was a modern artifact, probably a not very successful copy of the statue of the Dreaming Nun, which was manufactured by Ditmar-Urbach.
But this time – this time Prague has Anahita really!
Written for MF Dnes
On Saturday, January 22, 2022, a scavenger vulture flew to the Prague Zoo. From Lebanon, by plane.
The scientific work published last year by Timothy T. Taylor and Christina I. Barrón-Ortiz has a not very compelling title. It is called Rethinking the Evidence for Early Domestication of Horses in Botai. But it is very interesting. When I get her …