130925-studie-wildlife-comeback-in-europe

expansion of the Carpathian distribution during
the 1990s [12] , but the Balkan population remained
small and scattered, albeit stable [13] .
Habitat preferences
Although essentially a lowland species, the Eastern
imperial eagle occupies higher altitudes today as
a result of persecution and habitat loss [5, 6] . Eastern
imperial eagles breed in open landscapes and
agricultural areas as well as mountain forests, hills
and along rivers [14, 15] , foraging in open areas and
wetlands [6] .
The Eastern imperial eagle builds its stick nests
in the tops of trees, and occasionally on electricity
pylons [6] . It lays 1–4 eggs in late March to early
April, with an average breeding success of 1.5 young
per successful pair, which is relatively high for a
raptor of its size [6, 14, 16] . Sexual maturity is reached
at 3–5 years, and maximum lifespan in the wild is
26 years [14] .
The species preys on mammals and its
diet mostly comprises Suslik (Spermophilus
citellus), Hamster (Cricetus cricetus), Hare (Lepus
spp.), and Hedgehogs (Erinaceus roumanicus),
but may include small rodents, reptiles and
carrion [6, 17, 18] . Birds are also included in its diet,
including Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus), Quail
(Coturnix coturnix), Partridge (Perdix perdix), White
stork (Ciconia ciconia) passerines and domestic
chickens [17–19] .
Legal protection and conservation status
The Eastern imperial eagle is listed in Appendix I
of CITES, Annex I of the EU Birds Directive, Annex
II of the Bern Convention, and Annex I and II of the
Convention on Migratory Species.
Abundance:
current status and changes
No. of breeding pairs
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
1980
1984
of monitoring surveys [7, 19] and the population here
is believed to be stable [7] . Many parts of southeastern
Europe, with the exceptions of Bulgaria [23] ,
FYRO Macedonia [24] and Serbia [25] , still lack good
quality data [7, 12] , and the Balkan population appears
to be small and fragmented [13] . By contrast, the
near trebling of the population in the Carpathian
Basin since the early 1990s (Figure 1) has been well
documented [16, 26–28] .
1988
1992
1996
Distribution:
current status and changes
2000
2004
The historical limits of the species’ distribution in
Europe are not known, but it is certain that Eastern
imperial eagle ranged over a much larger part of
Europe in the 19 th century [13] . By 1960, the species’
distribution contracted eastwards (Figure 2). Since
that time, further contractions took place in the
Balkans, resulting in a fragmented distribution in
central Europe [13] , and in areas in the southeastern
Europe, including in Bulgaria, Romania and
Greece. The species went extinct in Cyprus in the
mid-1980s [7, 40] (Figure 2).
However, westwards and northwards expansions
have taken place recently, with new breeding
2008
2012
1600
1400
1200
1000
800
600
400
200
0
Population Index (%)
Figure 1.
Population
development of
Eastern imperial eagle
in Europe, based on
the Species Action
Plan [6] , relevant
reviews [7, 13, 29] and
other key sources,
showing total,
eastern European
(Moldova, Russia and
Ukraine), Carpathian
(Hungary, Slovakia,
Czech Republic
and Austria) and
Balkan populations
separately. The
population trend
since 1980 is
also shown (see
‘Methods’).
Table 2.
Latest Eastern
imperial eagle
population estimates
in Europe, indicating
those countries with
more than 1% of
the total European
population.
According to the most recent estimates of Eastern
imperial eagle population size, the European
population numbers approximately 1,400 pairs
(Table 2). This is similar to the Figure estimated in
2010 (1,178–1,387) [7] . Previous estimates are likely
to be underestimates, as the quality of population
monitoring in Russia, which currently holds >70%
of the European population (Table 2), has improved
significantly in recent years [7] . Outside Russia,
key populations are found in Hungary, Ukraine,
Slovakia, FYRO Macedonia and Bulgaria, which
together hold nearly a quarter of the European
population (Table 2).
The seemingly spectacular increase in the
population size of Eastern imperial eagle in eastern
Europe (Figure 1) is in fact a reflection of the quality
Country No. of breeding pairs Year %
Albania 0–5
[8, 30]
2013
Austria 11 2012 [31] 1
Bulgaria 24 2013 [18] 2
Czech Republic 3 2013 [32]
[7, 33]
Greece 0–3 2010
Hungary 150–160 2013 [8] 11
FYRO Macedonia 31–35 2012 [34] 2
Moldova 0–3 2000 [13]
Romania 0–3 2010 [7]
Russia 883–1196 2013 [35] 72
Serbia 6–7 2013 [36]
Slovakia 35–40 2012 [37] 3
Ukraine 110–130 2010 [29] 8
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