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After an absence of 170 years, a golden eagle fledged in mid-July in the Jura department in France. (archive picture)
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After an absence of 170 years, a golden eagle fledged in mid-July in the department of Jura in France. This is a sign of the gradual return of the large bird of prey to the region, the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park announced on Friday.
The young bird, which was born between May 1 and 4 near Saint-Claude, remained in its nest for two and a half months before taking to the skies between July 12 and 14, as Pierre Durlet from the Haut-Jura Regional Nature Park reported.
The golden eagle had disappeared from the Jura as a victim of hunting and superstition. It had retreated to the Alps and Pyrenees before tentatively recolonizing its old territories.
This is the second flight observed in the department in four years, after a first birth in May 2021. According to Pierre Durlet, after the end of persecution and the protection of natural habitats in the Jura massif, the species has gradually regained a foothold and now has twelve breeding pairs: six in the Ain department, one in the Jura and the others on the Swiss side.
According to the Ligue de protection des oiseaux (LPO), the population of golden eagles in France is estimated at 390 to 450 pairs.
01.08.2025, 18:36
