EAZA News 57-12 - European Association of Zoos and Aquaria

Projecto Aquila
The protocol to recover the Iberian golden eagle is part of a vast
integrated conservation programme called ‘Projecto Aquila’, which
includes in situ intervention as a primary tool. Several partners are
working to correct factors contributing to the decline of the Iberian
golden eagle population (e.g. prey availability, human pressure and
poisoned baits). The programme has an estimated duration of ten years.
Captive breeding
Park&Zoo Santo Inácio has agreed to breed the species in captivity and
to support the recovery of the Iberian golden eagle population with
financial, technical and human resources. The zoo will house eagles that
were confiscated by Portuguese authorities, obtained as unrecoverable birds
from the National Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre Network, or donated
by EAZA member institutions. The zoo will also assist in translocation of
individuals from other parts of the country to the target area.
Translocation
Translocation will include three phases; the collection of chicks, rearing
and the release into the target area in Peneda-Gerês National Park.
Chicks will only be collected until the eighth day and from nests with
more than one chick, as the second chick is at risk of ‘cainism’ (siblicide)
conservation
Protocol signed to recover
the Iberian golden eagle population
in northern Portugal
Helder Fernandes, Park&Zoo Santo Inácio, Avintes, Portugal
As currently only one female Iberian golden eagle
(Aquila chrysaetos homeyeri) remains in Peneda-Gerês
National Park, the Portuguese Ministry of Environment
(represented by the Institut0 Conservação da
Natureza (Institute for Nature Conservation - ICN)
and Park&Zoo Santo Inácio (Avintes) signed a
protocol in May 2006, with the aim of recovering the
population of Iberian golden eagles in the park.
photos park&zoo santo inácio
if both remain in the nest. The chicks will be reared at the zoo until they
are capable of thermo-regulation. During this phase, disease screening
and preventative medicine protocols will be performed. Finally, the
young eagles will undergo a soft release by ‘hacking’, in artificial nests
in the Peneda-Gerês National Park. Before the birds are released they
are ringed by the ICN and after release they are monitored via a GPS
tracking system. •
Lurdes Carvalho/ICN (left) and Roberto Guedes (Director Park&Zoo Santo Inácio)
This is the first official conservation-related protocol ever signed between the
Portuguese government and a zoo in Portugal, which clearly demonstrates the
national recognition of zoos as valid partners in conservation of wildlife and
biodiversity.
eaza news 57
2007
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