Another year has passed and we can give our annual update on the population of the Spanish Imperial Eagle (Aquila adalberti) in the Iberian Peninsula and in Extremadura. We are rather late this year because we have been waiting for the publication of the official data from each Autonomous Community for 2012. But since this has not yet happened, and seemingly will not happen in the near future, we are providing only the figures for Extremadura and for the Iberian Peninsula as a whole, without being able to disaggregate the information by regions as usual. Nevertheless, the situation is excellent, with 380 pairs in the peninsula (370 in Spain and 10 in Portugal), 55 more pairs than the previous year, that is a 17% increase. Between 2006 and 2012, the population has grown by no less than 168 pairs, i.e. by 75%. Although the detailed regional figures are not yet available, in the last year the population has grown in all of the autonomous communities, especially in Castille-La Mancha, followed by Andalucia and Castille y Léon. In Extremadura there are five new pairs, with the total now a historic maximum of 53 pairs. So for the first time the 50 pair threshold has been crossed and there has been a 10% increase, breaking the levelling out that was shown over the last few seasons. Although the information is not yet available regarding the distribution of these new pairs in Extremadura, possibly the biggest growth has been in the centre and southern part of the province of Badajoz, in areas where the rabbit population is enjoying an excellent conservation state.
Acknowledgement: Thanks to Ángel Sánchez for his role in the Spanish Imperial Eagle census in Extremadura.
Translated by Martin Kelsey.
