Christoph Fürst accidentally found a sensation at an airfield near Oberpfaffenhofen. He photographed an almost extinct bird.
- A sensational snapshot was taken by members of the aviation group at DLR Oberpfaffenhofen.
- Christoph Fürst (48) is the second chairman and base manager of the air rescue squadron, which has been based in Oberpfaffenhofen since 2017.
- When he coordinated the forest fire surveillance flights, a forest ibis ran into his feet on Friday.
Oberpfaffenhofen - The sighting of the animal is exceptional in that the goose-sized ibis is one of the most endangered bird species worldwide and was considered almost extinct.
The Waldrapp is a migratory bird that was native to Central Europe until the 17th century, but disappeared there by hunting. As part of an EU project under the leadership of an Austrian association “Waldrappteam”, attempts have been made since 2013 to reintroduce more than 120 copies of this literally colorful bird.
This is how it looks from up close: Waldrapp.
© dpa
Each animal therefore carries a transmitter. This is also linked to a project called Icarus - an antenna that has been mounted on the ISS since 2018. The project serves basic research in nature and species conservation. With its help, the flight behavior of the forest ibis is also tracked.
One partner of this program is the German Aerospace Center (DLR). "As if he wanted to show with his visit to Oberpfaffenhofen that the support pays off," Fürst is pleased.
Waldrapp near Munich: "I had never seen anything like it"
He noticed the bird on the apron after starting a machine. "I had never seen anything like it," Fürst reports to Starnberg Mercury and is happy that he was able to record a video quickly with his smartphone. According to research on the Internet, the assumption that the funny bird that the 48-year-old had discovered there is a forest ibis has intensified.
Fürst contacted the Waldrapp team in Innsbruck and also the fighter responsible for the airfield. Both contacts confirmed his guess and gave him the hint that the bird can be tracked using the transmitter.
Therefore, the hobby pilot, who is a graduate psychologist in Gilching in real life, knows that the shrill bird was born in Tuscany in 2017 and bears the name Attila. He came here via Austria. Unfortunately, the next females are at Chiemsee and Glonn. If one came to Oberpfaffenhofen, the Waldrapp would perhaps be based.
In autumn 2019, a female Waldrapp was sighted in Königsdorf. A few years earlier, another Waldrapp female appeared in the Fürstenfeldbruck district.
Sighting near Munich: Now he is tracking the Waldrapp by app
"We have a lot of green here, where he has his peace," says the base manager and would be happy. He immediately installed the "Animal Track" app on his smartphone, on which one can track exactly where Attila is hanging around.