Carcasses and remains of some 30 white storks electrocuted on power lines were found Monday north of the Pezael Junction in the Jordan Valley, the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) reported.
The grisly spectacle repeats itself annually in the area, as a large waste site attracts the birds, which like to settle on electric cables and poles.
“The danger arises primarily from poles that have exposed electrical components,” explained Yotam Bashan, a senior ornithologist at SPNI, who discovered the dead birds while driving along the north-to-south Route 90. “When storks land on a pole or spread their wings on it, they can simultaneously touch two points with different electrical currents, or a conductive component and a grounded part of the pole,” he went on. “This closes an electrical circuit through the bird’s body, and the result is electrocution, which usually ends in death.”
Yoav Perlman, Director of the SPNI’s Ornithology Center, said, “Year after year, over the past 10 years, this power line kills many white storks during migration seasons and many black kites during the winter season.”
Perlman called on the Israel Electric Corporation to act immediately to insulate or bury all power lines in the area, noting that the poles carrying transformers were particularly deadly. Transformers convert high-voltage electricity from power lines to a low voltage safe for homes and businesses.
He added, “About half a million white storks pass through Israel every migration season — about half of the global population. Along their migration routes, they face many dangers, including hunting in neighboring countries and damage from energy infrastructure. Israel is a signatory to several international conventions for the conservation of migratory birds. It would be good if it were to fulfill its commitment on this issue and solve this recurring problem once and for all.”
An electrocuted bird alongside electricity infrastructure near the Tovlan waste site in the central Jordan Valley. (Yuval Bashan, Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel)
An Israel Electric Corporation spokeswoman said, “Over the past two years, Israel Electric Corporation teams have made a major effort in the Tovlan [waste site] area to insulate all poles that can be insulated. Regarding the pole on which the transformer is installed, which cannot be insulated, we are advancing a detailed plan in coordination with the relevant authorities to obtain approval for burying it underground.”
The plan, being coordinated with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, is complex and requires multiple approvals, the spokeswoman added.
She said the corporation was investing tens of millions of shekels in an electricity pole insulation project across the country, particularly in the Tovlan area, to minimize harm to birds.
More than 1,300 poles have already been insulated nationwide this year, she said.
