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Life in the BalanceAwake!—1988 | July 8
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However, there is one permanent resident that excites the interest and admiration of all visitors to the park—the imperial eagle.
The Imperial Eagle
During this century, the number of imperial eagles has decreased alarmingly throughout its restricted habitat. Egg collectors mercilessly robbed the nests, while others hunted the adult birds to provide museum trophies or in the mistaken belief that the eagle was depleting the game that the hunters coveted. The Spanish variety, distinct in some ways from the eastern imperial eagle, was decimated. In the 1970’s only 30 pairs survived in Spain, and it seemed inevitable that another species would pass onto the list of birds exterminated by man’s callousness.
Nevertheless, the conscientious efforts of the park’s naturalists in behalf of this eagle have already shown positive results. There are now some 14 pairs nesting in the park, the maximum number it can sustain because of the large territory of 19 square miles [50 sq km] that each pair requires. Every nest is carefully monitored. If three eggs are found in one nest and only one in another, an egg is carefully transferred, so that each nest contains two eggs. Imperial eagles are unable to rear more than two eaglets successfully at a time.
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Life in the BalanceAwake!—1988 | July 8
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[Picture on page 18]
Imperial eagle protects its young from the hot sun
[Credit Line]
J. A. Fernández/INCAFO, S. A.
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