Endangered Eastern imperial eagle, named Sno, safely returns to Georgia

An Eastern imperial eagle, classified as an endangered species, named Sno, safely returned to Georgia, the Society for Nature Conservation Sabuko, a non-governmental organisation, announced on Tuesday.

Sno had travelled from Georgia to the Middle East for more than half a year and had recently crossed the border through Azerbaijan, returning to its homeland. The Sabuko team spotted the eagle while conducting their first expedition to monitor Eastern imperial eagles’ nests.

Photo via Sabuko

The organisation has detailed information on Sno’s route, as the eagle was equipped with a GPS transmitter last summer. Sabuko said the transmitters helped scientists and conservationists to collect large amounts of necessary data on migration routes, threats of targeted species, etc.

The Eastern imperial eagle is a large bird of prey that breeds in southeastern Europe and extensively through West and Central Asia. The species has declined greatly through history and was uplisted to Vulnerable in 1994, after which conservationists and biologists have been working extensively to remediate and reverse the decline of the Eastern imperial eagle.