Conservation

Portrait de face d'un pygargue à queue blanche qui regarde droit devant. Son plumage est marron glacé

Program

A bateleur eagle in the Terre des Aigles aviary perched on a wooden fence.

Investigations

6 Pygargues à queue blanche de 2 jours à 15 jours, ils sont duveteux, certains ont le bec ouvert.

Centre

Jacques-Olivier with his bird on top of a mountain.

Biography

Conservation

The reintroduction programs

For years we have been working to reintroduce the largest eagle in Europe to the Lake Geneva basin and the Upper Rhône. Indeed, the white-tailed eagle nested for the last time in continental France in the forest of Ripaille in Thonon les Bains in 1892, a few kilometers from our park. Since 2022 and until 2030 we will release 85 young eagles, born in our country, to try to see again these giants flying in the sky of Lake Geneva. This program is possible thanks to the collaboration of zoos, associations, elected officials and enthusiasts who work with us to preserve biodiversity. (for more information click here).

Scientific research

At the same time, Les Aigles du Léman decided to invest in the development of research on raptors. We have chosen to study the behaviour of these birds in captivity in order to be able to improve their longevity, reproduction and feeding. Our aviaries serve as an open-air laboratory, allowing biologists to deepen their knowledge of the morphology, habits or physiology of raptors in general.

Alpine Eagle Foundation

Raising public awareness:

FREEDOM is a conservation movement that seeks to protect threatened birds of prey through creative conservation methods. By creating this unique and compelling content, FREEDOM seeks to engage a new generation of conservationists, catalysing popular support for the protection of nature worldwide.

FREEDOM comes from a gamble of Jacques-Olivier Travers in 2006 where he paraglide with adult eagles to raise public awareness about the precarious situation that these birds face in our world. This mad idea turned out to be an extraordinary way of learning about birds in flight. Today, Jacques-Olivier teaches birds of prey born in captivity, to hunt and fly by skiing, kayaking and paragliding with them. To complete this idea, the breeding centre of The Aigles du Léman was born to promote the reproduction of endangered species of eagles and vultures.

FREEDOM is delivering its message by capturing never-before-seen footage, taken from the backs of eagle’s flying from iconic cities. Flights took place from theEiffel Tower in Paris (video), the Tower Bridge in London and the Vallée Blanche in Chamonix (video) amongst others.

We broke the world record by releasing an eagle from the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa ( Dubaï), This flight was broadcast live on BBC World for 6 minutes. These flights have amassed tens of millions of online views, as well as receiving international print and broadcast coverage.

For more information : www.freedom-lefilm.com

A committed conservationist

As a partnership, FREEDOM is a pioneering movement for the conservation community. It not only seeks to raise public awareness of threatened birds of prey, but it also serves as ambassador role for all species. Its highlights ways for people and organizations to become involved in supporting effective frontline nature conservation programs.

Convinced by his commitment, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) chose FREEDOM as the ambassador program of the conservation initiative, SOSSave Our Species. SOS identifies and selects impactful conservation projects protecting threatened species. Following this partnership, IUCN provided us with the opportunity to film one of our eagles flying in the sky of London to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the IUCN red list threatened species. ‘The red list’ program is one of the most objective global approaches for evaluating the conservation status of living species.

Moreover, several European universities chose to work with our birds for ecological research as climate change ( University of Birmingham) or ethology (University of Neuchatel).

In 2021, Freedom Conservation changed its name to the Alpine Eagle Foundation.

More information…

Portrait de face d'un pygargue à queue blanche qui regarde droit devant. Son plumage est marron glacé

Program

A bateleur eagle in the Terre des Aigles aviary perched on a wooden fence.

Investigations

6 Pygargues à queue blanche de 2 jours à 15 jours, ils sont duveteux, certains ont le bec ouvert.

Centre

Jacques-Olivier with his bird on top of a mountain.

Biography