Feliks, a young eastern imperial eagle from Serbia, has returned home after a harrowing migratory journey that included capture by poachers, illegal sales, and a multi-national rescue effort.
The eagle, fitted with a transmitter, began his first migratory flight toward the Middle East in August. His signal was lost in Syria in late October, leading to concerns among the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS).
"It's getting worse year after year, season after season, day after day," said Michel Sawan, head of the Lebanese Association for Migratory Birds, who played a crucial role in Feliks's recovery. "We can actually barely believe ... the mission was done successfully."
Poachers captured Feliks and offered him for sale on WhatsApp groups. Sawan utilized his network of contacts in Syria to locate the eagle, who had been sold to a buyer in Lebanon and then resold back into Syria.
Retrieving Feliks presented further challenges, including ongoing conflict and adverse weather conditions impeding his transfer to Lebanon. Eventually, a group of refugees assisted in carrying the eagle across the Nahr al-Kabir river, marking the border between Syria and Lebanon.
Feliks was held at Sawan's bird sanctuary in Beirut. His return to Serbia was complicated by the start of the war in Iran in February, making transit difficult. After three unsuccessful attempts, the Serbian army, through its contingent in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, facilitated Feliks's transport.
On June 22, Feliks arrived back in Serbia aboard a military plane. He is currently undergoing a 21-day quarantine at a zoo in northern Serbia. Experts from BPSSS plan to equip him with a new transmitter before releasing him back into the wild.
The eastern imperial eagle is a protected species in Serbia. Conservation efforts by BPSSS and an EU-backed project have helped increase the population from a single breeding pair in 2017 to 29 breeding couples.
Despite conservation successes, dangers persist for the species, including accidental poisoning and electrocution from power lines. "Feliks went full circle and came back to where he had set off," said Uros Stojiljkovic from BPSSS. "Let's hope he won't be bored here."