Project Track-'em: Lightning

The peregrine falcon "Lightning" remains free

Santiago

It is not the Peregrine Falcon "Lightning" that was harassed by many people at the community of Los Pepines. It was a Red-tailed Hawk (Guaraguao) which is a native species. The confirmation was made this morning by three naturalists of the SOH (Sociedad Ornitologica Hispaniola) who traveled from Santo Domingo, alarmed upon rumours that Lightning had been attacked by people and captured by the police.

The naturalists Pedro Genaro Rodríguez, who represents the Canadian Peregrine Foundation in the DR, the entity that freed Lightning last October, confirmed that the assaulted bird was a Red-tailed Hawk. Along with Pedro came the naturalists Dennis Lorenz and Miguel Rodriguez. Pedro Genaro Rodríguez expressed satisfaction for the fact that Lightning was still free, and said that the satellite confirmed that the Falcon was located at Villa Bisono two days ago, close to Navarrete. However he also mentioned that there were rumours about people seeing the Falcon back in San Francisco de Macorís. He also added that this aggression to the red-tailed hawk was due to the prevalent prejudice against raptors and that the Falcon could have been attacked too.