Rare Bonelli’s Eagle Found Dead After Epic 3-Year Journey Across Europe and Africa

In less than three years, a Bonelli’s eagle has traveled thousands of kilometers. "Extraordinary journeys" across Europe and destinations outside Europe. This young female has flown over countries she is not used to frequenting. These include Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark. The bird also traveled across France, from north to south and from west to east, Spain, Portugal, Morocco and Mauritania, before ending up in the Pyrénées-Orientales, its native region. "This journey is extraordinary for such a species. It is both very surprising, but it can be explained by the youth of this bird. We can compare it to a teenager, at this age, when they have not fixed a home, they are travelers," explains Yves Aleman, president of the Groupe Ornithologique du Roussillon (GOR), to Actu Perpignan.

But since the end of November, this Bonelli’s eagle had not given any sign of life. Searches then began. A beacon located in the Aveyron department, "then the GPS had a surge and transmitted a final location on February 22, in Corbère-les-Cabanes. But the temperature data collected intrigued the team of the association La Salsepareille, in charge of monitoring this individual," explains the GOR on its social networks. A member of the association found it dead at the foot of an electricity pylon on February 28. "Its death would date back to December, according to the data collected on the accelerometer," the GOR further explains. A collision and/or electrocution with this medium voltage line would be the cause of the animal’s death.