National effort to save eagles living in Hungary

An unprecedented effort has been taken to save eagles living in Hungary, 60 of which fell victim to illegally used pesticides in the previous two years. This figure amounts to 20% of the whole European population, writes fn.hu.

On Tuesday, April 15, representatives of environmental organizations and the state held an "Anti-Poisoning Round Table" discussion in Csákvár, where they agreed that an action plan would be worked out by May 31, detailing the tasks of the undersigned and the deadline for each of those. The effort was initiated by the Ornithology Association of Hungary.

Both the Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) and the White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) are protected in Hungary. The intangible value of a single eagle is considered to be Ft 1 million (roughly €4,000) on the "nature conservation value" list. There are 150 White-tailed Eagle pairs and 83 Imperial Eagle pairs - 60% of the European population - nesting in Hungary.

The 60 eagles poisoned in the previous two years are the largest cases of environmental damage in Hungary in recent decades. All of the known poisonings were caused by illegally used pesticides, which were often placed as bait in the carcasses of other animals to kill furry and feathered predators.

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