In Greece, the death of the seal Kostis, killed by a harpoon, causes outrage
The male seal was found young in 2018 by inhabitants of the island of Folegandros, in the Cyclades, very weakened following the passage of Hurricane Zorba (illustrative image).
© US Fish and Wildlife Service
Text by: RFI Follow
3 min
In Greece, the death of a seal, apparently killed on purpose with a harpoon strike, arouses emotion and indignation on a small island in the Sporades archipelago, in the east of the country.
An island of which this monk seal had become, according to the NGO revealing the affair, a sort of mascot in recent months.
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With our correspondent in Athens,
Joël Bronner
He had been baptized Kostis and enjoyed a certain notoriety on the island of Alonissos, located in the Greek archipelago of Sporades, an island which shelters a little more than 2,500 inhabitants.
After the announcement of his death, images of the young seal swimming in the company of tourists were notably broadcast on local television.
Kostis was a Mediterranean monk seal, a marine species listed as "endangered" by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which estimates its total current population at around 700 animals, including more than the half live off Greece, Turkey and the island of Cyprus.
Kostis was named after a Greek fisherman who had rescued him in 2018, when the animal was adrift following the passage of
Cyclone Zorba
.
MOm, the Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal, then took the animal under its wing before releasing it to its natural habitat.
It is this same NGO which echoed the death of the animal, an act that it qualifies as "
criminal
" and "
immoral
", to the point that the organization says it is ready to engage. criminal prosecution.
Greek NGO MOm says Kostis the "mascot seal" on the island of Alonissos has been killed by a spear-gun diver, announces plans o take legal action.
#Greece https://t.co/D3HwUPO3G1 pic.twitter.com/trq2BBop1i
- Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) July 25, 2021
Translation: “
According to the Greek NGO MOm, Kostis, the 'mascot seal' of the island of Alonissos, was killed by a diver with a speargun, and announces his intention to take legal action.
"
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