He saved the oldest living sea eagle known to us from certain death. It happened in Iceland, where last Saturday a farmer spotted the animal struggling to save itself along the banks of the Miðfjörður River in the north of the country.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himHe saved the oldest living sea eagle known to us from certain death. It happened in Iceland, where last Saturday a farmer spotted the animal struggling to save itself along the banks of the Miðfjörður River in the north of the country.
After watching the bird attempt to fly without success, Þórarinn Rafnsson realized that the eagle couldn't make it on its own. He slowly approached the bank of the river to understand closely what the conditions of the animal were.
The eagle was groping, could not fly. So the man, despite the frost, took off his jacket and covered the cold animal. The led on his farm located in the Miðfjörður fjord in northern Iceland, and fed him while waiting for help to arrive.
The bird was then taken to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History in Reykjavík and is safe. Its history has been around the world.
What makes the rescue really important is that it was the oldest surviving sea eagle. It was first sighted in Breiðafjörður bay in 1993 but has since lost track of it. In fact, the animal is at least 25 years old, a very respectable figure.
Also note as gray eagle o white-tailed sea eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla), this creature has an average lifespan of 21 years. The oldest known in Iceland was 18 years old. This means that the injured bird saved by the farmer is one of the oldest living eagles today.
According to the Icelandic Institute of Natural History, sea eagles are one of the rarest birds in Iceland. They were much more common until the late 19th century when their numbers dropped dramatically due to hunting, which nearly led to extinction.
Even if the sea eagles have been protected by Icelandic law since 1914, their growth stumbled. In 1964, when the practice of killing foxes with poisoned bait was banned, the population of sea eagles began to increase.
In the spring of 2006, 66 breeding pairs (excluding young birds) were counted, the largest population of eagles since the bird was declared a protected species. They are also on the red list of endangered species.
READ also:
- 10 animal species at risk of extinction
The white-tailed eagle nests in Iceland, Greenland, and in areas scattered across Europe and Asia. Sea eagles have become extinct across much of Europe due to direct persecution, pollution and habitat destruction.
Francesca Mancuso
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