EASTERN IMPERIAL EAGLE (AQUILA HELIACA) POPULATIONS IN EUROPE

HORVATH, M., HARASZTHY, L., BAGYURA, J. & KOVACS, A. (2002): Eastern Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) populations in Europe. Aquila 107-108, p. 193204. Based on the most recent information available from countries with existing populations, the European Imperial Eagle (Aquila heliaca) population is estimated to be between 1000 and 1600 breeding pairs, a much higher number than previous estimates. These data suggest that about half of the Imperial Eagle’s world population is found in Europe and underline the importance of the conservation of European populations of this globally threatened species. Approximately 10% of the European breeding pairs had been located between 1996 and 2000. The recent European populations of the Imperial Eagle can be divided into three groups: (1) The compact and well-known Hungarian and Slovakian population in the northern part of the Carpathian basin is currently increasing. (2) The formerly abundant population on the Balkans declined dramatically during the 20 th century and by now it is very small and fragmented. Luckily, this heavy decline seems to have stopped before the complete extinction of this species from the Balkans. (3) The East-European areas (in Russia, Ukraine and in the Caucasus) support the largest segment of the European Imperial Eagle population. Despite the exciting results of recent researches, only a fraction of these populations have been properly investigated, similarly to the most important factors threatening them.