London, Jan 5 (IANS) A vulture tagged by Israeli scientists was ‘arrested’ on suspicion of being a Mossad spy after the bird strayed into Saudi Arabian territory, a media report said Wednesday.

The bird was found in a rural area wearing a transmitter and a leg bracelet bearing the words ‘Tel Aviv University’, the Daily Mail reported citing Israeli and Saudi media reports.

Although these tags indicate that the bird was part of a long-term research project into migration patters, residents and local reporters told Saudi Arabia’s Al-Weeam newspaper that the matter seemed to be a ‘Zionist plot’.

The accusations went viral, with hundreds of posts on Arabic-language websites and forums claiming that the ‘Zionists’ had trained these birds for espionage.

The Sinai regional governor last month suggested that a shark that killed and maimed tourists on its Red Sea port may have been released by Israeli agents to sabotage Egypt’s tourist industry.