Wildlife

Celebrity Eagle Killed by Locals

A Martial Eagle from the Kruger National Park that starred in a British wildlife television series, Fierce, has been killed by subsistence hunters in Mozambique, researchers from the University of Cape Town confirm. The 4.6 kg female Martial Eagle debuted on British television earlier this month in a nature documentary narrated by well-known TV presenter Steve Backshall.

The 4.6kg bird was fitted with an electronic tag under the watchful eye of the British film crew, who were documenting scientists' efforts to stem the decline of these rare predatory birds

Rowen van Eeden from the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology Centre of Excellence at UCT said the bird’s death illustrates the risks that the birds face and highlights a potential factor contributing to this species’ decline.

He said the Martial Eagle was the third adult eagle out of eight fitted with GPS tags to die outside of Kruger since the start of Martial Eagle research in the world-famous Park three years ago.

Two have now died at the hands of hunters in Mozambique and one was electrocuted after flying into power lines in another neighbouring country, Swaziland.

We detected that the bird was no longer moving about in a normal fashion,” Van Eeden said.

Van Eeden and a colleague set off to the bird’s last-known location, 160km from where the bird was tagged, in a remote corner of neighbouring Mozambique, which is currently in the midst of renewed civil unrest.

The team had to battle through inhospitable terrain where access by vehicles is limited and the dense bushveld makes traveling difficult.