the Brandenburg ostrich - Landesamt für Umwelt, Gesundheit und ...

32ConservationWings in the windThe conflict between the wind turbines and theGreat Bustards has found resonance in the media.The large wind turbines change the landscape andcan obstruct habitats and flight paths. To some speciesthey also pose an accident risk. To date no GreatBustards are known to have fallen victim, but studieshave only been conducted in a few wind parks.At present we don’t know how these large birdswill behave toward the wind parks within theirtraditional migration routes. However it has beenshown that the bustards avoid a wind park on theedge of the Fiener Bruch and have thereby lostan important part of their habitat.Whether this will have an effect on the largerpopulation is not yet clear. A gradual acclimatizationof at least some animals – as with otherspecies – is not out of the question, but wouldthereby increase the risk of collision.A recent study has shown that currently onlyaround 10% the environment of the last threeGerman great bustard territories is uninterruptedand undeveloped and therefore of use to the greatbustard.