By Emma
Haskin
Updated 23
Sep 2018, 6:19am
A
wedge-tailed eagle is being used to capture a bird's-eye view of central
Australia's landscape, thanks to a lightweight camera attached to its torso.
Key
points:
Sonder
performed in Alice Springs until he made contact with audience member
Since
retirement Sonder has taken up photography
It's
taken six months to train the four-year-old eagle to carry a camera
Four-year-old
Sonder was previously the star of Alice Springs Desert Park's Birds of Prey
live show.
But in
2016, the park was faced with a challenging situation after Sonder made contact
with an audience member.
Senior
keeper, animal behaviour and training, Cameron Candy said the decision was made
to retire Sonder from performing.
The idea
for teaching the wedge-tailed eagle to fly with a camera attached came about
while the park was trying to reassess what Sonder could do next.
"There
were many options including release, moving to another institution, or finding
another role for him," Mr Candy said.
"I
decided that it was a good opportunity to try something new and that's where
the idea for training the bird to wear a harness with a camera came from. A
creative response turning a negative into a positive."
He said
given Sonder's young age, releasing him back into the wild would have taken
more resources.
"It
would have required a lot of training, much more than the camera project and
follow-up to ensure that Sonder had the best chance of survival, as he is a
hand-reared bird," Mr Candy said
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