Return of the Golden Eagle to the Czech Republic

Return of the Golden Eagle to the Czech Republic

The conservation project "The Return of the Golden Eagle to the Czech Republic" is implemented by the Basic Organization of the Czech Union for Nature Protection in Nový Jičín - the Rescue Station in Bartošovice in Moravia together with the Administration of the Beskydy Protected Landscape Area, the State Nature Conservancy of the Slovak Republic, Ostrava Zoo, Forests of the Czech Republic, Military Forests and estates and other leading Czech and foreign experts. Its goal was to release 15 to 20 golden eagles into the Moravian-Silesian Beskids between 2006 and 2011 and thus create a stable nesting population, just as it was in the Beskids 150 years ago. The project continues today, during the duration of the project a total of 27 chicks were released until the end of 2017. Thanks to the Ministry of the Environment of the Czech Republic, satellite monitoring of released eagles has been taking place since 2008, among other things.

Golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos)

The golden eagle is a large predator with a wingspan of 190-220 cm. Golden eagles can live up to 38 years in the wild, and even more than 50 years in human care. After reaching adulthood, they live in permanent pairs. Golden eagles are predators that represent the top of the food pyramid. Apart from humans, they have no natural enemies, they play an irreplaceable role in shaping the ecological balance in the relatively fragile conditions of mountainous and moderately situated areas. They can hunt prey from the size of a vole to a fox, buzzard, or pigeon.

Threats to golden eagles

The golden eagle is not globally threatened. In recent years, however, it was greatly persecuted, which was reflected in the reduction of its status and the reduction of the range of distribution, especially in Europe and North America. It follows from many historically documented sources that golden eagles nested in all mountainous and densely forested lowland areas of the Czech lands. In the 19th century, they regularly nested in the Krkonoše, Orlické, Jeseníky, and Beskydy mountains. However, as a result of intensive hunting by humans, golden eagles have completely disappeared from the Czech lands. Together with Ireland, the Czech Republic is one of the European countries where these eagles have been completely exterminated as a nesting species due to human intervention. The main causes of threats to golden eagles include:

• Direct persecution is probably the most significant threat to the golden eagle, and unfortunately even today some people do not hesitate to shoot at this predator (according to the "Occurrence of eagles in the Czech Republic" database, 88 individuals were shot in the past out of a total of 271 birds living in our territory!).

• High-voltage poles are especially dangerous for young birds, who often pay with their lives for contact with them (the solution is the installation of protective elements along selected routes, which is being carried out gradually).

• Inappropriate management of the landscape, such as the construction of large investment projects or the conversion of meadows and pastures into arable land, reduces the food supply of eagles.

• Urbanization of the landscape, especially the construction of human settlements, contributes to the disturbance of the natural habitat of golden eagles. They prefer sparsely populated landscapes. Although they can adapt to the gradual construction of human settlements, there is always a greater risk of disturbance during the breeding and non-breeding periods.

• Nest theft and illegal trade is a serious problem indeed. In Slovakia, for example, since 1965, an average of 6-7 nests have been stolen every year. Theft can be prevented by direct surveillance or with the help of cameras, but this is very time-consuming and expensive.

• Environmental pollution from industry and agriculture can threaten and slow down the development of individuals. Even many years after some pesticides have been banned, harmful substances are found both in the birds themselves and in unhatched eggs.

• The lack of suitable biotopes that is caused by inappropriate interventions in the original nesting habitats (which meet the requirements of eagles, especially in terms of height, accessibility, proximity to hunting grounds, etc.).

• Disturbance of birds, whether caused unintentionally (berry pickers, tourists, paragliding) or intentionally (photographers, filmmakers, curious), can affect successful nesting and hatching of young.

Project activities

As part of the project, young Slovak golden eagles obtained with the approval of the government institutions and nature protection of the Slovak Republic were transported to Bartošovice. In all cases, it was the so-called second chicks that would have been killed by an older sibling thanks to so-called kainism (i.e. a phenomenon where an older, usually stronger, sibling kills a younger, weaker sibling shortly after hatching). Golden eagles are bound to the place of their birth, and newly formed pairs inhabit areas exclusively near the parent pair. Therefore, it is almost impossible that the golden eagle population would naturally spread to the territory of the Czech Republic by natural means.

The young golden eagles were transported to the rescue station for wounded animals in Bartošovice in Moravia and in Zázrivá in Slovakia, where adult female golden eagles live. She adopted the chicks as her own and cared for them the entire time the chicks were at the station. The chicks were thus raised completely naturally.

At the age of about 2 months, when the eagles are already independent and can regulate their body temperature, they were moved to a release aviary on the outskirts of the Beskids. It was here that the locality was imprinted as the place of birth. At this location, the eagles were released into the wild after about 1 month. Before the release, radios were installed on the eagles so that the workers had an overview of their movements, health status, sudden injuries, deaths of the released eagles, etc. Even after the release, the eagles were still fed by humans for some time before they learned to hunt independently. This significantly increased their chances of survival in the wild. It must be noted that the feeding was always done in such a way that the chicks did not discover that a person was bringing them food.

It can be concluded that the project was very successful - there are currently 3 territorial pairs in Moravia and Silesia. The project has already officially ended, but activities related to the monitoring of released individuals and the protection of the existing nesting population are still ongoing.

You can learn more at www.csopnj.cz/orel-skalni/o-projektu.

How Ostrava Zoo helps

Ostrava Zoo has been involved in the project since its very beginning. For example, it participated in the construction of aviaries for eagles and the financing of radios for monitoring eagles released into the wild. The zoo provided staff and expert support to the project and helped and continues to help spread awareness about both the project itself and the threat to eagles in our nature.