Israel vulture ‘spy’ caught in Lebanon

Lebanese media are reporting that people in southern Lebanon have captured a vulture that was “spying” for Israel.

But according to Israeli reports, the vulture had in fact been tagged by the Nature and Parks Authority in the Gamla reserve on the nearby Golan Heights — part of an effort to increase the population of the endangered bird.

Images posted to social media show the vulture being held up to the camera, its tags, which include the word “Israel,” fully visible.

A vulture tagged by the Israeli parks authority that was captured as a ‘spy’ by people in southern Lebanon, January 25, 2016 (screen capture: Twitter)

“We hope that in the 21st century, people will understand that wild animals are harmless,” the Nature and Parks Authority says in a statement quoted by Army Radio. “We hope that the Lebanese will take care of it and release it.”

Recent Lebanese reports say the vulture has indeed been released by its captors.

The vulture is the latest in a series of Israeli animal “agents” captured in Arab countries, which, while mostly avian in nature, have also included a shark that attacked tourists in Egypt’s Sinai peninsula.