Less than a decade ago, Serbia had just one breeding pair of the eastern imperial eagle. Now, thanks to dogged conservation work, the species is making an improbable return, with 19 breeding pairs recorded last year.
The decline of the imperial eagle (Aquila heliaca) in Serbia was driven by a combination of factors: loss of nesting trees due to agricultural intensification, widespread persecution and poisoning campaigns, and the disappearance of their main prey, ground squirrels, as grazing pastures vanished.
By the late 1980s, only two small populations remained, one of which was lost in the 1990s. The last stronghold, in Fruška Gora, held on until 2015, when the species disappeared from there too. Milan Ružić, executive director of the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS), suggests that a rapid expansion of fruit orchards and power lines may have been the final blow.
However, a neighbouring success story provided a lifeline. Hungary’s imperial eagle population, which has grown from 20 pairs in the 1980s to 550 today, began to spill over the border, with young eagles dispersing south. About the time the species vanished from Fruška Gora, a new pair appeared in northern Serbia.
BPSSS, spurred by the EU-funded PannonEagle Life project, decided that Serbia’s last breeding pair would not be allowed to fail. Volunteers guarded the nest, and when a storm damaged it, conservationists temporarily removed the chicks to rebuild the structure. The young survived. Today, the organisation monitors territories, rehabilitates injured eagles and works with local communities, appealing to national pride as the eagle is widely believed to be depicted on Serbia’s coat of arms.
