National coat-of-arms symbol featured in mural: "Responsibility for eastern imperial eagle is ours"

The use of prohibited poisons in agriculture and the unscrupulous use of those that are legal has decimate the population of the eastern imperial eagle

Foto: Društvo za zaštitu i proučavanje ptica Srbije

The sacred bird, the symbol on Serbia's national coat of arms and the centuries-old inspiration for our people, the eastern imperial eagle, now has a mural in Belgrade dedicated to it.

Due to neglect, this type of eagle has been brought to the brink of extinction in Serbia, with only one breeding pair in the north of Banat. This fact was the inspiration for artist Petar Popovic Piros to, with his mural, convey the message: "The responsibility for the eastern imperial eagle is ours."

"Behind my new mural, which was painted on building in Dorcol, is the story of survival and the efforts of Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia to rescue the eastern imperial eagle from disappearing from our sky. During the breeding season, they guard the last nest around the clock, thanks to which young eagles have been successfully taking flight for three years now," says Piros.

The fact that the message on the mural is not there by accident is clear bearing in mind that the main reasons for the drastic decrease in the population of these eagles is precisely the human factor.

Bird Study and Protection Society of Serbia says that the use of prohibited poisons in agriculture and the unscrupulous use of those that are legal has decimate the population of the eastern imperial eagle. Add to this problem lack of trees on which the eagles could make their nests, lack of prey and various disturbances, and the intense concern that the Society is currently pursuing when it comes to this species becomes more than necessary.

The Society has a number of activities planned: putting up new nesting sites, exploration, habitat restoration, provision of prey in the territory of the eastern imperial eagle, a nesting program, planting trees, setting up livestream cameras to monitor nests and marking birds with satellite transmitters.

(Telegraf.rs)