Saving the Eastern Imperial Eagle

2012/13 Travelling Fellowship Report

By Stewart Miller

Contents

Page 1 Cover page.

Page 2 Contents.

Page 3 Reason for Fellowship

Page 4 Mongolia

Page 5 Eagle hunters, Scots and Kazakhs.

Page 6 Learning the old ways.

Page 7 Mongolia to China

Page 8 Discovering the harsh reality.

Page 9 Feeding the masses.

Page 10 Illegal wildlife trade

Page 11 South East Yunnan

Page 12 1st Needle found.

Page 13 Shangri La.

Page 14 High altitude reserve

Page 15 Conservation and rehabilitation in China

Page 16 Recommendations.

Page 17/18 UK – Relevance and results

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Reason for Fellowship

Photo: The author on horseback deep in the Altai Mountains in Bayan Ulgii, western Mongolia

The reason for my Fellowship was to research and survey migration routes and wintering areas

of Imperial eagles from southern Siberia. As well as assessing conditions and problems for

migratory eagles in China. Essentially, it would mean following the route taken by the eagles

from Southern Siberia, through Mongolia and down through China to the Yunnan province in the

far south.

I had previously travelled to Siberia in 2007 to survey this eagle’s breeding population, at that

time I had determined that the reasons they were in severe decline would be found in their

wintering grounds in China. This population had declined to approximately ten percent of what

it was in the 1960’s and is now considered to be vulnerable.

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Mongolia

For the Fellowship, I left for Mongolia at the beginning of November and travelled from London

to Ulaan Baatar via Istanbul in Turkey and an unexpected stop in Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan. I had

built in additional time in Mongolia to visit Kazakh eagle hunters in the Bayan Ulgii region in

the far west.

Photo: Flying west over Mongolia.

After my initial flight to western Mongolia was cancelled, it was the following day that I soared

over the vast remote landscape of this remote part of Asia. The population of Ulaan Baatar is

approximately 1.2 million people which is said to be about half of the whole population of

Mongolia. As I flew over the frozen landscape, I could just make out one or two of the Gers (felt

tents) used by families living here. No roads or railways to be seen anywhere, what a remarkable

place.

The purpose for this detour was to research traditional eagle training techniques used by the

Berkutchi (Kazakh eagle falconers) for thousands of years. Although I have trained eagles as

part of my raptor rehabilitation work here in Scotland, Mongolia is really where this activity

began, before the time of Genghis Khan and his empire.

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Eagle hunters, Scots and Kazakhs .

Photo: The author training a golden eagle for rehabilitation in Scotland.

So, I wanted to see if I could learn anything useful that I could use for my work with wild eagles

here in Scotland.

Having researched traditional falconry techniques for the last thirty years, I was thrilled to be

able to live with and talk to the Berkutchi (Khazakh eagle hunters) and get an accurate feel for

their techniques and traditions.

It is difficult to describe just how remote this area is. It took me three days to get to the little

four roomed log house which they lived in during the harsh winter months. Travelling by plane

and then by jeep across the wilderness and at times in the dark was quite an experience. The

average temperature was minus 20 C and as well as having to light fires under the engine of our

vehicle to thaw it out, we had other things to contend with such as navigation, bandits and

wolves.

During my time with the Berkutchi, I slept in their home, shared their meals, played with their

children, helped with their animals (yaks, camels and horses) and went hunting with eagles on

horseback into the mountains.

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Learning the old ways

Photo: Kazakh Berkutchi (eagle hunter) with his Berkut (golden eagle) looking for foxes

Being able to visit the Berkutchi was an amazing experience. I was able to compare their

techniques for training eagles with my own and I certainly picked up a few ideas while I was

there. These ideas will be used back in the UK when I am training wild eagles for rehabilitation

and should allow me to pass these techniques to others.

I am already working with the SSPCA wildlife rehab unit to train their staff and inspectors about

raptors and I have started to implement further training with them following this expedition.

I was sad to leave the Berkutchi but I had to get back to Ulaan Bataar to catch the train to Beijing

and meet up with my Russian colleagues, who would be onboard that train. This next part of my

trip would be to carry out its main purpose, to survey the migration route and wintering areas of

the Imperial eagles from southern Siberia.

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Mongolia to China

The main reason I didn't travel to Siberia to meet my colleagues was that it was much cheaper

for me to travel to two countries instead of three. I managed to cut down on costs of travel and

visas and this made things much simpler as well. Also, my Russian friends would be able to

cover the first part of the route without my help. When I travelled to China, it was by train. I met

two Russian colleagues on the Moscow to Beijing train as it came through Ulaan Bataar in

Mongolia and we travelled onwards together. This way I could see for myself the landscapes the

eagles would be flying through en route to their wintering grounds.

We travelled across the open steppe country and through the Gobi desert before reaching the

border with China. Once through the border crossing, we soon realised that things were very

different on this side. In Mongolia we had seen Upland Buzzards, Saker falcons, and herds of

antelope, from the train but once into China there was little in the way of wildlife to see at all.

The massive change in land use was the first of the problems we encountered for our eagles. The

whole aim of my trip was to travel south along similar route that Imperial eagles use during

migration each year. To be able to do so was incredibly important, I could see the habitat

destruction, the wind farms, the reduction in suitable wintering habitats and the general

exploitation of nature that the Chinese have carried out in modern times.

Image of the route I took (marked in red) during my Fellowship

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Discovering the harsh reality

I had expected there to be more than one single reason for our eagles not making it back from

their wintering grounds, but I didn't think that so many of them would come into the mix.

Following our journey south through the heartland of China, we soon started to see how the

landscape had been changed. A massive surge of development was being under taken by the

Chinese. New roads, railways, buildings, towns and even cities had been put in place to

accommodate what seemed like a human population out of control.

Photo: The rate of development in China is staggering

Almost every town and city has numerous apartment blocks being built. I saw thirty being

constructed in one town alone.

The rate of construction is to satisfy a growing population who are becoming wealthier and who

need sufficient housing and infrastructure in place. Although apartment blocks are an obvious

way to provide housing for a large number of people in a smaller area, this has an effect on the

countryside as well. This population will need to be fed.

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Feeding the masses

Photo: Terraced mountain sides. Every inch that can be cultivated, is

In the countryside, any land that can be cultivated has been and new land is being transformed as

part of this mass exploitation of natural habitats for agriculture. Mountain sides are terraced,

wetlands are drained and hillsides are ploughed and grazed.

The human element is everywhere and even the most remote landscapes are being infiltrated and

explored to see how they can be used. It is doubtful whether this destruction can be halted, let

alone stopped due to the sheer scale of the problem.

Certainly, for the economic impact it will have on China’s wildlife tourism market, something

needs to be done immediately or there will be nothing for the tourists to come and see.

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Illegal wildlife trade

Photo: An illegal bird market where many rare birds and animals were being sold as pets

I saw turtles, tarantulas’, hedgehogs, squirrels, snakes, rabbits and many others as well as a

variety of song birds being sold here.

After seeing some of the problems en route that Imperial eagles have to cope with, we were keen

to get out into the countryside and start looking at the landscapes, wildlife and culture of this

region of China. This is a region which these eagles have used for thousands of years to spend

their winters away from the severe Siberian cold in their breeding grounds.

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South East Yunnan

We arrived in Kunming, the capital of six million people in the Yunnan province in the south and

met our Chinese colleagues before embarking upon the main task of finding the wintering

Imperial eagles. Even with data from satellite tracking projects and previous local sightings of

eagles, this was still going to be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

First stop was the far south east of the region, near the border with Myanmar (Burma). There are

some wetlands here which attract thousands of migratory birds each year and this is the main

food source for raptors. This is a fantastic landscape of strange forested hills and lakes where

many species of duck and geese and cranes come to feed.

We saw Marsh Harriers, Peregrine falcon and spotted eagles here but no Imperials eagles.

Photo: The beautiful wetlands of south east Yunnan

In order to cover as much ground as possible, we would travel to known suitable habitats as well

as national nature reserves where Imperial eagles have been recorded previously. The route

headed west to various lakes where we saw Saker falcon, Peregrine falcon, Black necked Cranes

and then north again past Kunming where at last we found our first Imperial eagle.

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1st Needle found

Photo: After travelling thousands of miles, I found the first Imperial eagle on our fourth day in

Yunnan province. A poignant picture showing in the distance one of the hazards eagles face

This first sighting was a wonderful experience, it was an adult bird and was spotted sitting on top

of a mountain ridge at 2,900m. We had found our first needle.

We were able to survey this site recording not only what other species were there but also the

human activity we saw. This site was a good example of one of the problems for habitats in

China. What we learned that although this site was a protected national nature reserve, the

government still allowed local farmers to plough up the hillsides and destroy the natural habitat

in order to plant crops.

Our next direction was south to Kunming, then west to Dali and then north to Shangri La. This

was an area we were all looking forward to visiting. Right up into the end of the Himalayan

mountain range and the Tibetan plateau. We would go to the Nappa Hai wetlands near Shangri

La and further before returning south again through the Yangtse river valley gorge.

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Shangri La

Photo: Past Shangri La, near the Tibetan plateau at 4.000m

The altitude was challenging at over 4,000m but the landscape was fantastic. We saw Griffon

and Black vultures, white tailed Sea eagles, Steppe eagles, Golden eagles, Chinese Goshawks

and Lady Amerhurst’s pheasants. However, more importantly, en route we saw more Imperial

eagles.

Following our visit to Shangri La, we headed back to Kunming and then north again to check out

some sites where Imperial eagles had previously been recorded the Caohai wetlands and more

nature reserves in the North West. One of these was an important site for wintering cranes and

the director of the reserve gave us two of his ranger staff to show us the area as well as

accommodation for a night. We met with other professional scientists who were there to study

and many useful contacts were made.

We discovered another problem while we were inside one of the reserve ranger stations. Whilst

looking at a bird identification chart that was hanging on the wall, and to which all the reserve

staff refer when reporting species records, I noticed that it was out of date and incorrect.

Some of the raptor species were wrongly labelled and the Imperial eagle was one of them!

These charts are used all across China by staff at reserves to report which species they had

recorded each year and meant that statistics were incorrect.

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High altitude reserve

Photo: 3,000m up at a nature reserve in northern Yunnan

I took the above photograph the day we arrived at this nature reserve. The following morning,

we woke to a grey atmosphere; the cloud had come down during the night and there was a

freezing mist everywhere which had left the roads covered in ice. There was even ice on the

fences near the hotel and we couldn’t go anywhere until the air had warmed and the ice had

cleared. This had been a very dramatic change in conditions but it highlighted what can happen

at altitude and how it could affect any wildlife trying to winter here.

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Conservation and rehabilitation in China

Photo: Visiting the Beijing Raptor Rescue centre

Finally, when we got back to Beijing, we had one day before we would part company and my

Russian friends would travel back through Mongolia by train to Irkutsk in southern Siberia. I

had managed to arrange for us to visit the Raptor Rescue Centre in Beijing and we were shown

round by the manager. We saw quite a few raptors that had come to the centre for treatment after

being injured. There were Upland Buzzards, Eagle Owls, Amur falcons and Chinese Goshawks,

to name just a few. I was particularly interested in this visit since I carry out the same type of

work in Scotland with wild raptors. It was good to exchange of views and knowledge and I am

sure we will be keeping in touch in the future.

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Recommendations

As a result of my Fellowship to survey the migration routes and wintering areas of Imperial

eagles in China, I would make the following recommendations.

1. There needs to be much more protection for landscapes where Imperial eagles winter.

2. Wetlands in China are of huge importance to migratory birds, as they are everywhere.

Waterfowl require this type of habitat to feed and raptors such as eagles require the

waterfowl as a primary food source. Therefore these wetlands must be protected from

drainage for agriculture.

3. Poaching is still a threat and measures need to be taken by the authorities to stamp out

this activity with harsher penalties for anyone caught. These measures would need to be

enforced properly if they are to be effective.

4. Measures also need to be taken against the illegal trade in wildlife in China. The pet

trade as well as the traditional medicine trade needs to be better policed. Bird markets

should be looked at as a matter of urgency.

5. Education is an area where the younger generation in particular can learn about the

importance of wildlife and habitat protection.

6. Government employees would also benefit from better information about species,

especially migratory birds. This would be helpful for scientific research and recording

purposes.

7. Wind farm development needs to be halted before it is too late. Many of the mountain

areas are being covered in wind turbines and it has been proven in other parts of the

world that this has catastrophic effects on raptors as well as other bird species, bats and

insects.

8. Although it will not be easy, the government of China will have to invest in the

conservation of the country’s natural habitats if it is not to lose them completely.

Accompanying this loss of habitats will be the loss of some of the most spectacular

wildlife species including iconic species such as the Imperial Eagle.

9. Although there are conservation initiatives in China for a few flagship species, the focus

should also be placed on conserving a variety of habitats.

10. Pollution is of significant concern to the environment, not just locally but globally and

China urgently needs to address this subject.

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UK – Relevance and Results

Now that I am back in the UK, I have already started to implement many of the actions planned

from the results of my expedition. Everyone involved with our charity is enthused by my trip

and can’t wait to see the slides or a presentation on it.

Our volunteers have been encouraged to do even more for the project and we are hoping that

some of them will be able to venture abroad to help in the field in the future.

Our Russian partners are also doing more to raise funding and an article has already been

published in a Russian journal.

The information gained from visiting the Kazakh eagle hunters in Mongolia is being used to

refine our own techniques here in Scotland for rehabilitating wild raptors and those techniques

are being passed on to our staff and volunteers.

The expedition to China was the first of its kind and has given us the experience and knowledge

to develop further research expeditions as well as studies here in the UK and could be used as a

template for other conservation bodies embarking upon similar projects.

A full scientific paper will be produced before the summer and circulated to publications around

the world.

After nearly four weeks in Yunnan we had covered nearly 5,500 km through wetlands, forests,

river valleys and mountains from an altitude of 1,200m to over 4,000m. We recorded 22 species

of raptors with a total of 344 individuals as well as other species of birds and animals. All of the

problems that we discovered in China can be addressed, and as a result of this expedition, we

intend to write to the Chinese government with a number of recommendations on habitat and

species protection.

The results of the findings so far have confirmed that an ongoing migration study should be

implemented as soon as possible using satellite transmitters and GSM technology to locate and

monitor migrating Imperial eagles. I am working with our Russian partner to develop this and it

will be carried out in collaboration with Chinese partners.

The project is developing its own website to help raise awareness and funds and publicise its

work to the wider global community.

A series of talks are being planned by me and our volunteers here in the UK, the first of which

has already taken place at the Scottish Wildlife Trust Osprey reserve in Dunkeld and for SSPCA

staff at their national wildlife rescue unit near Stirling. So, already we are sharing techniques and

information with other NGO’s here in the UK.

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Since returning from China, I have also been asked to join a steering group and committee to

stop wind turbine development across the Angus glens in Scotland to save local and migrating

bird species.

Finally, I suppose for me, one of the most surprising things to come from this experience is that I

am in the process of writing a book about my travels and I hope to use any proceeds to help fund

satellite tags. I am also exploring the idea of making a documentary film of the project and am

currently in discussions with a producer at the moment. Again, this will be to help raise funding

for the project.

What has the Fellowship meant to me? All of the above would not have been possible without

the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust and its Travelling Fellowships.

Having run a small wildlife conservation charity for the last fourteen years or so, I have had

some experience of the difficulties of trying to get a project off the ground. For most of the time

you have to do things on your own and with very little outside help. I think that, for this reason

alone I am very grateful that the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust exists. Having tried to apply

for funding from various sources in recent years, I can honestly say that I haven’t come across

any other trust that is so open to such a wide range of applicants. Its inclusive nature and

welcoming approach is a breath of fresh air and I have been spreading the word far and wide and

will continue to do so in the hope that others will apply. I was thrilled to be accepted for my

Fellowship and with all of the help and advice I received from WCMT staff, it could not have

been more straightforward.

I hope this report will be of use to others who are wondering whether they can put together a trip

to some far flung part of the globe and bring back skills and knowledge to benefit others here.

Believe me when I tell you that if I can do it, so can they.

Stewart Miller

Director – International Raptor Research and Conservation

Registered charity no. SC029314

Email – stewart@irrc.org.uk

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