The protesters gathered in front of the Museum of Maritime Science and History, where county officials were attending a Christmas reception, calling on them to declare the area where the griffon vulture nests a protected area and to establish a public institution on the county level which would care for protected areas in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
The president of the eco-centre Caput Insulae, Goran Susic, said that the vultures were poisoned, but that some of the birds were shot dead.
The prosecutor's office in Crikvenica, which covers the island of Rab, today confirmed that the authorities of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County had pressed charges against unidentified perpetrators for killing 17 griffon vultures.
Ten griffon vultures were found dead on Cape Sorinj on the island of Rab on December 16, and one bird that was still alive died later. Six more birds were found dead near the location on December 21. The birds were sent to the Faculty of Veterinary Science in Zagreb, where it was established that they had most probably been poisoned, which is yet to be confirmed. A police investigation is under way.
The griffon vulture has been a protected species in Croatia since 1967.
The latest incident and several previous ones have prompted the recently established Press Centre for the Environment in Osijek to urge the government to immediately establish a state commission for environmental accidents.