In Sicily it is saved from extinction, in Sardinia it is reintroduced after its disappearance in the 1990s.
The result is that in four years an increasing number of specimens of Bonelli's Aquila flies in the skies of the two Italian islands: thanks to the European projects of WWF Italy, by the Spanish wildlife association Grefa and Ispra, today one of the most important birds of prey for Italy it continues to be present in our habitats.
The two European projects ("Life ConRaSi" of WWF Italy for Sicily and "Aquila a-Life" of Grefa and Ispra for Sardinia) have decided to celebrate Aquila Day, to spread the knowledge of this splendid bird of prey at risk of extinction and inform about what is being done in our country for its conservation.
In the case of Sicily, the Life project fights against the decline of the local population of the splendid eagle, which had been reduced to a dozen pairs due to the plundering of eggs and chicks from nests for collecting and falconry purposes.
In Sardinia, on the other hand, we started from scratch after extinction, bringing new specimens to the island every year starting from summer 2018.
In the latter case, Aquila a-Life, led by ISPRA, with the support of the Forestas agency and the Forestry Corps of Environmental Surveillance of the Sardinia Region has reintroduced, in the Sardinian territory, 21 pullets from Spain and France and one also from Sicily.
At about 50-60 days of age, the birds were transferred to the aviary in the Tepilora Park and released.
The story of Bonelli's Eagle and its reintroduction in Sardinia is also told in a comic that can be downloaded from the project website.
Life Conrasi of WWF Italy, in collaboration with the Sicilian Region and Grefa, also produced excellent results.
Started in 2016, the project has favored the increase of breeding sites (51 in 2020 against 46 in 2016) and helped to bring to 38 the pairs of eagles that this year laid at least one egg (there were 20 in 2016).
Overall, the young eagles that have come to fly from the nests in the last five years amount to 180 and the ones that flew between May and June of this year amount to 45.