Count of Steppe Eagles witnesses steep decline in Oman’s Dhofar region

Count of Steppe Eagles witnesses steep decline in Oman’s Dhofar region

Muscat: The Office for Conservation of Environment recorded a remarkable decline in the number of Steppe Eagles by more than 80 per cent in parts of Dhofar within one year. Steppe Eagles are migratory birds that visit the Sultanate in winter every year. Khalid bin Muhammad Al Hakmani, Head of the Natural Reserves Department at the Salalah Environmental Conservation Office and the supervisor of the specialised environmental study, said, "The preliminary results of the study showed a significant decrease in the number of migratory Steppe Eagles, with a decrease of 84 per cent during the study period, compared to 2019-2020, specifically during the months between (October until the end of December) every year." "The estimated number of Steppe Eagles visiting the Dhofar Governorate in 2019 was about 500, while their estimated number in 2020 was only 80. This is likely due to a number of threats, the most important of which is the lack of food like carcasses (dead animals or their remains)," Al Hakmani added. The study results also indicated that the Steppe Eagle spends the summer period in Central Asia and migrates with the beginning of October to southern Arabia, especially the Sultanate, Yemen, and southwestern Saudi Arabia.