Russian scientists tracking migrating eagles were forced to start a crowdfunding campaign after their birds wandered into Iran and foreign text messages from their tracking devices depleted the project's budget. Scientists rang the alarm earlier this month when several endangered steppe eagles transmitting coordinates via Russian mobile numbers wandered into the roaming zone after spending the summer in an area without mobile coverage. "These beasts were out of range in Kazakhstan all summer and now once they reached the super expensive Iran and Pakistan, they are spewing out hundreds of text messages with their locations," wrote Igor Karyakin of the Russian Raptors Research and Conservation Network. Scientists this week launched a campaign called "Top up the eagle's mobile" to keep the research going with the public's help after taking out a loan to pay for the text messages costing 49 rubles each ($0.77) instead of the usual price of 2 to 15 rubles. "They really left us penniless, we had to take out a loan to feed the tracker device, " Karyakin wrote Friday. Bird lovers, however, have already contributed enough to last through the year. "People are still sending money so there is hope we can keep the eagle sim cards running until they come back from their faraway journeys in early summer to Russia, where mobile connectivity is not so expensive," he wrote. Steppe eagles breed in southern Russia and Kazakhstan, and spend their winter in Africa and India. They have experienced rapid decline due to the spread of farming land across their territory and are vulnerable to wind turbines, according to Bird Life International. The SMS messages deliver the birds' coordinates as they migrate, and the team then use satellite photos to see if the birds have reached safe locations. Power lines are a particular threat for the steppe eagles, which are endangered in Russia and Central Asia. They are currently tracking 13 eagles. The birds breed in Siberia and Kazakhstan, but fly to South Asia for the winter. Megafon's offer to bail out the team, reported by RIA Novosti news, means they can continue monitoring the eagles' routes, collecting vital data to help their survival. Some seriously beautiful flight?
I wont you guys to know "Stoned" I spent many minutes starring at that map trying to figure out the birds route? ...lol