In a month they will be able to fly undisturbed in the skies of Sardinia. They are the six chicks of Bonelli's Eagle (Aquila fasciata), coming from Spain and hosted in the adaptation and pre-release aviary of the Forestas Agency compendium in the Crastazza area of Bitti, on the mountain side of the Tepilora Park. The six chicks are included in the actions of the Life Abilas cooperation project and are added to the first specimen, which arrived last May 12 from Sicily.
The project
In October 2024, the activities planned in the new LIFE23-NAT-IT-Life Abilas Project, funded by the European Union, began. They will involve the Regional Agency Forestas, together with the lead partner ISPRA (Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research), the Department of Environmental Protection of the Sardinia Region, E-Distribuzione SpA and the Spanish NGO GREFA, in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Forestry Corps and the Tepilora Regional Natural Park, in the periodic releases of young Bonelli's Eagles and other activities always linked to the return of this species to Sardinia.
The new program aims to consolidate the reintroduction of this bird of prey, after the conclusion in September 2022 of the previous international project LIFE16 NAT/ES/000235 “AQUILA a-LIFE” which involved, between 2018 and 2022, several organizations and bodies in Spain (Coordinator GREFA Grupo para la Rehabilitación de la Fauna Autóctona y su Hábitat-ES), France and Italy (ISPRA) and resulted in the release of 32 young eagles in Sardinia. In addition to the aviary in the Tepilora Park, for three years, the one in S. Maria di Bosa was also involved in the interventions, thanks to the collaboration and support of the IIS “GA Pischedda” of Bosa.
Tepilora Park
"The fact that the territory of our Park was chosen at a regional level for the reintroduction of the Bonelli's Eagle, and for several years has continued to be reconfirmed as a fundamental point of reference for this wildlife regeneration project, demonstrates how important the Tepilora area is in terms of managing animal biodiversity in Sardinia and reconstituting a balance in the fragile ecosystem of our Island". This was stated by the president of the Tepilora Park, Martino Sanna, in commenting on the restart of the program in the aviary of the protected area.
