Captive Breeding of Eagles

The goal of eagle conservation must always be to have a self sustaining population of eagles in the wild. But for many eagle species, especially for those with very low population numbers like the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) captive breeding can be an important part of the conservation strategy.

Why captive breeding

There are many good reasons for captive breeding. The most important ones are listed below.
  1. to understand the species
  2. to research the species
  3. to be able to utalise similar species techniques
  4. to maintain sustainable captive populations
  5. to produce birds for release to the wild (if circumstances allow)
  6. to research into incubation techniques
  7. to research into rearing techniques
  8. to be able to share information
  9. to utilise captive population for teaching

What is needed for captive breeding

  1. A piece of land that is safe, secure and quiet
  2. Preferably in a location with a climate not too dissimilar to the range state
  3. Well designed and built enclosures, taking into account the species and climate
  4. Good and safe food supply
  5. Good Veterinary experience close to hand
  6. Experienced staff in management, husbandry and captive breeding techniques
  7. Good quality birds
  8. Good incubation equipment
  9. Ideally, pairs of fostering birds
  10. Time
  11. Luck

CAPTIVE BREEDING PROGRAMMES ARE NOT THE WHOLE ANSWER, BUT THEY CAN BE A PART OF THE ANSWER. THEY ARE EXTREMELY VALUABLE AND SHOULD ALWAYS BE INITIATED BEFORE A POPULATION GETS TOO LOW