It is a well known fact that telemetry facilitates gathering of vital data on various nature aspects, both positive and negative. As for the latter, many proofs of human stupidity causing damage to environment is being collected on almost monthly basis. Even if only one family of species would be taken into account, the news are worrying - a migrating Eastern Imperial Eagle poisoned in Poland this year, a Polish Greater-Spotted Eagle shot in Montenegro few years ago. Every year in every country incidents of this type are recorded by virtually every project where telemetry is involved. This applies also to a project on Ospreys Pandion haliaetus lead in Russia this year.
In "Darvinskij Zapowiednik" Nature Reserve, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this year, the research on Ospreys has been conducted for many years, lead by famous Russian scientist Miroslav Babushkin. Last year dataloggers of our company were used to fit one juvenile individual. Unfortunately the bird became victim to Eagle Owl Bubo bubo predation before leaving the nest. This year two juvenile Osprey females were fitted with new GPS/GSM models. The birds suffered no loss this time and the loggers successfully recorded as day after day the females were leaving their nests. Unfortunatelly for one of them it was not meant to enjoy its flight abilities. Soon after her logger stopped working. After a week's break it managed to send a few data which was enough to localize the device. It was enough to find the device laying on the ground with the harness evenly cut and the neoprene pad missing - inevitable proofs of human interference. The female was not found. At that time the hunting season in the area has just begun, but the scientists wondered what an Osprey would be good for. And found no answer to that question. A good example that shooting is a problem for Ospreys not only in Poland.