by Lady Michelle-Jennifer Santos, Chief Visionary Founder & Owner
September 5, 2013 (TSR) – Egyptian authorities remain on high alert from foreign meddling and destabilization that even storks are detained when under suspicion of spying.
The bird, which was floating some 280 miles south-east of Cairo, was put in jail after a man fishing in the Nile in Qena spotted an electronic device attached to its feathers, according to Sky News.
Thinking it was an undercover agent, the man captured the stork and took it to a police station near his home to be investigated, said Mohammed Kamal, head of security in the Qena region.
Fearing the attached unidentified gadget was a bomb or spying equipment, the puzzled police officers examined the bird, and then called in veterinary experts.
Eventually, the Egyptian authorities discovered it was a wildlife tracker which French scientists installed to follow and study the movement of migratory birds, said Ayman Abdallah, head of veterinary services in Qena.
Abdallah affirmed the device stopped working when the bird crossed the French border.
Although the bird is absolved from espionage suspicions, it will need to remain in police custody until they received permission from the state prosecutor about officially dropping the case and release it, said a police officer.
Following the popular military coup which overthrew President Mohammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, Egyptian authorities and its citizens still remain on high alert due to outside forces wishing to meddle in its state affairs.
Currently, the interim government is rethinking its real friends and is reconsidering its ties with countries that haven’t been supportive of the government that the military installed.
This is not Egypt‘s first when dealing with animals with spy equipment.
Earlier this year, a security guard filed a police report after capturing a pigeon which was carrying microfilm.
In 2010, a series of shark attacks along Egypt’s Mediterranean coast were blamed on “GPS-controlled sharks” allegedly late by Israeli security services into the Sinai waters.
Israel has cutting edge spy tech
To date, Israel is the nation that uses cutting edge spy technology in the region.
The Israeli military in cooperation with researchers at Israel’s Ben-Gurion University have been undertaking a robotic animals project.
Together, they have designed a robotic spy snake in 2009 which can spy on enemies and plant bombs, which was presented by Israel’s Channel 2 TV.
Researchers studied the movements of snakes to ensure that the robotic equivalent mimics them correctly which they successfully did as footage showed the six-foot long snake in camouflage gear, winding its way through rocks and tree stumps.
Like a real snake, the remote-controlled reptile is able to sneak through cracks in buildings to gather information on enemy combatants.
It can even stretch its neck up vertically to peek over obstacles in its way.
A soldier controls the snake from a remote laptop and can follow what it sees via video cameras.
It is important to note that the university not only developed a robotic snake but also a cat and a “dog-droid”- which can respond to human movements.
