"A place that is dangerous to humans is not necessarily dangerous to other animals and vice versa!" That's what Short-toed Eagle number 37297 that I have studied and monitored for 2 years, teaches us.

Story starts with a good beginning: Short-toed Eagle 37297 was named after the code of the satellite transmitter fitted to it's body. (The reason I didn’t give that eagle a regular name is not completely clear to me).

The first official meeting between me  and  37297 was when I trapped  it in order  to attach  a  transmitter to  it’s body to monitor it’s migration to an unknown spot in Africa. That was on September 9, 2006, when, with the help of some friends, the eagle was fitted with a satellite transmitter and released to mother-nature.

 Number 37297 was a healthy adult female, probably after nesting that year. Due to the Eaglet high fitness, I was fairly certain that it had a great chance of surviving the cruelty of the world. I, my family, my friends, my colleagues and my supervisors were eagerly anticipating 37297’s beginning her migration to an unknown place in Africa. It was the first time in the world this species had ever been monitored on the east Mediterranean routes.

It did not take long-until our friend (37297) began her southward migration on the 2^nd of October, 2006. She reached her wintering grounds in less than a week —Africa, south west Sudan, the area of Darfur.

Darfur… Will our eagle survive all killing and shooting taking place in that area? We were very worried.

Despite our concern, our Eaglet showed signs of survival and activity throughout the winter and we were happy and anticipating her returning to Israel at the beginning of spring to nest! The eagle started moving back toward Israel on February 21, 07 and reached Israel on March the 7th. She stayed all spring and summer; still, even with the transmitter batteries operating, we unfortunately could not locate her nest. After finishing her nesting season  here in Israel, 37297 migrated back again to Darfur area  -reaching it again on October 1^st,  2007, 9 days before the batteries stopped functioning,. After that, we lost connection with this eagle, and we had no way of knowing whether she came safely back to Israel in the spring of 2008 or whether for some reason she could not return. 

The sad ending of this story: On the 3^rd of September 2008, I received a phone call from a friend saying one of my eagles had been found dead by a traveler in Shfayim area underneath an electricity pole—with its transmitter still attached. After a Ranger of the Nature & Park Authorities collected the eagle and reported the ring numbers and the transmitter details, it became clear that it was my eagle, 37297. This was a great shock to me and to all the people who had been following the bird's movements with such interest. Examining the dead bird at the Israeli wildlife Medical center in Afek, we found signs of electrocution, obviously caused by the electricity pole where it was found.

Short-toed Eagles are large raptors with a wing span reaching 180 centimeters, and they use electricity poles for perching. Some of these poles, unfortunately, are not properly insulated with plastic. That’s why it frequently happens that Short-toed Eagles touch more than one wire at the same time and get electrocuted. Other big birds have also been collected after being electrocuted by these poles, such as storks and Imperial Eagles.