Three-Year Observation Of Eagle Attached with Satellite Tracking Device

The eagles, the natural monument number 243. Why do these majestic eagles spend winter in Korea after doing whatever it does in some distant place?

A nature documentary called `the long travel of eagles - from Bagagazrin to Chulwon`, which is to be broadcasted by MBC on Tuesday (10:55 pm), will answer this question. The production team of the documentary attached a satellite tracking device to two eagles which were going back after spending winter in the spring of 1999. This is a system in which electric waves from the transmitter attached at the wings of eagles are interpreted by an institute in France through the satellite and then it informs the production team the location of the eagles.

The production team headed toward the east of the Choibalsan area in Mongol from which the eagles sent the first signal. The production team could not find the location of the eagles. However, with the help of professor Gombobatar at the animal science department of the Mongol National University, the production team found out that the eagles were inhabiting in the south Mongol Bagagazrin area. Bagagazrin, which means the `small rock mountain`, is the best habitat for the eagles which build the nest on the wall of the rock, since the Bagagazrin is the place where rock mountains constitute a small mountain range. The production team succeeded in tracking the movement process of one of the eagles with device. It was analyzed that this eagle left Bagagazrin and arrived in Chulwon through Liaoning Province in China and the place nearby Supoong Power Station in the Ahprok River in North Korea. The secret for the long journey lied in the wings. Feathers are intersected by more than 350,000 hooks, and their functions are different depending on the location. Some feathers are used to reduce the air resistance during flight. Producer Park Sang-Il said, ``These eagles, who have traveled this far, in fact spend winter eating wastes due to the impetuous birds like Korean magpies. As it was reported that 843 eagles recently visited Korea, proper measures should be quickly taken to protect them.``

Lee Seung-Heon ddr@donga.com