SYDNEY, June 19 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientists have introduced an innovative risk mapping system aimed at preventing deadly collisions between endangered wedge-tailed eagles and overhead power lines.
Power line strikes are a leading cause of injury and death for large birds of prey in the Australian island state of Tasmania and worldwide, making this innovation a significant step for avian conservation, according to a release from University of Tasmania on Thursday.
Using six years of GPS data from 23 eagles, the team developed a model that pinpoints likely low-altitude power line crossings -- areas with the highest collision risk, the release said.
Hazardous crossings are most common in remote areas featuring a mix of open land and forest edges, with risks peaking during autumn and winter, revealed the study published in the Journal of Applied Ecology.
"Nearly 50 percent of known collisions occurred on the 20 percent of Tasmania's power line network with the highest risk," said James Pay from the University of Tasmania who led the study.
Between 2017 and 2023, 110 wedge-tailed eagles were confirmed killed or injured by power lines in Tasmania, Pay said.
The new model enables authorities to predict high-risk areas and implement preventative measures before incidents occur, moving beyond reliance on reported fatalities, which often underrepresent the true scale of the problem, he said.
The university is working with TasNetworks, Tasmania's electricity transmission and distribution provider, to implement these findings.
TasNetworks has already upgraded over 600 km of high-risk lines with bird deterrents and safer designs, investing nearly 1 million Australian dollars (650,000 U.S. dollars) a year to reduce threatened bird incidents by 25 percent by 2032, the release said.
The risk mapping tool can also inform the planning of new infrastructure and targeted conservation initiatives, offering a data-driven approach to safeguard endangered species and create safer skies for wedge-tailed eagles. ■
