Four Bonelli’s eagles have just been released in northwest Sardinia, as part of a long-term programme to reintroduce these majestic yet endangered birds on the Italian island. With the support of a 49,800-euro grant from Rewilding Europe’s European Wildlife Comeback Fund, three juvenile and one adult bird were returned to the wild in mid-January, in Tepilora Natural Park. Factors such as the theft of eggs and chicks, direct persecution, and collisions with power lines meant the species had become locally extinct on the island by the 1990s, with reintroductions beginning in 2018. The grant also supported the release of four birds in 2024.

The Bonelli’s eagles are being released on Sardinia under the framework of the multi-partner, EU-funded “LIFE Abilas” initiative. The Spanish NGO GREFA, which received the comeback fund grant, was responsible for transferring the birds to the island, with releases overseen by ISPRA (the Italian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research). Three of the eagles were bred in captivity in the French Vendée region, while the fourth was provided by the Andalusian regional government in Spain.

“The reintroduction of Bonelli’s eagles in Sardinia, supported by EU funding, shows how international partners can work together to return a once extinct species to a landscape where it should be present,” say GREFA president Ernesto Álvarez. “With the overall objective of establishing a viable breeding population of the birds on the island, we are aiming to release a further six to eight eagles every year through till 2030, with the possibility of up to 10 in some years.”