Migrating young eagles follow adults for conservation success

Although the lesser spotted eagle is not listed as endangered by the IUCN, BerndUlrich Meyburg from BirdLife Germany (NABU) knows that the graceful bird of prey’s future is far from assured in Germany. Meyburg explains that the German population has dwindled to just 110 breeding pairs in recent decades, largely due to habitat loss and persecution by poachers during their long migration to their overwintering sites in southern Africa. In a bid to stem the destruction of the German population, Meyburg has been relocating chicks from the more stable Latvian population in the hope of boosting the declining German numbers. However, it was not clear whether the translocated chicks would survive the gruelling migration to their overwintering sites in southern Africa. To be convinced that the conservation strategy might offer hope for theGerman population,Meyburg needed evidence that the translocated Latvian chicks could somehow reach South Africa and return successfully.