Judean Desert eagles at risk

Nature and National Parks Service warns Israel’s eagle population in danger of disappearing

 

Israel Nature and National Parks Service has expressed serious concern over the country’s dwindling eagle population, Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Disappearing? Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

Disappearing? Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

According to the NNPS, while some 380 eagles roamed Israel’s skies in 1999, in 2010 there were only 70 eagles in northern Israe and 87 in its south, and in 2011 their numbers dropped to an alarming 49 in the south and 63 in the north.

The NNPS noted that some of the eagles were affected by the urban sprawl biting into their natural habitat, others were poached and some were poisoned due to the State’s faulty enforcement of preservations laws, especially in areas where farmers illegally spread poison to ward animals away from crops.

Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

Photo: Israel Nature and National Parks Service

Israel Nature and National Parks Service said that this disconcerting trend is now evident in the Judean Desert – the eagles’ main habitat in southern Israel.

An NNPS report said that only four eagle nests were found in the heart of the Judean Desert – once the Israeli eagles; main nesting ground.

The association has been trying to revive the eagle population in northern Israel for the past few years, but with little success so far.

 

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By Amir Ben David

Oshrat Nagar Levit contributed to this report