After swooping off Dubai's Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, an imperial eagle called Darshan has become an avian record-breaker, achieving the highest bird flight from a manmade structure. And thanks to a tiny camera attached to the eagle's back, we get to go along for the ride!
The high-flying stunt (the Burj Khalifa is 829.8 metres, or 2,722 feet, tall) was orchestrated by Freedom Conservation to raise global awareness about the plight of endangered birds of prey. Thanks to conservation efforts, eastern imperial eagles like Darshan have seen some recovery in the wild, but Freedom Conservation sees Darshan as an important ambassador for both his vulnerable species and other threatened birds of prey.
The conservation organisation's falconer, Jacques-Olivier Travers, works with its eagles at the conservation park Les Aigles du Léman in France. The park's goal is to increase Europe's eagle populations by breeding the birds in captivity and preparing them for reintroduction to the wild. Travers has pioneered several reintroduction techniques that include paragliding, skiing and kayaking to teach the birds vital survival skills.
Travers describes the Dubai event as the most challenging of his eagle-flying career, but he's hopeful about its potential to build awareness and drive conservation. "This flight will create huge possibilities for future conservation programmes. Training and equipping birds of prey with these small cameras will allow us to understand exactly what a bird does when it is released into the wild, and will ultimately help our effort to restore endangered bird populations," he said in a press release.
The Dubai event is just the latest in a series of bird flights organised by Freedom Conservation. Its eagles have flown from several other iconic landmarks too – check out this swoop from the Eiffel Tower!