In response to confusing speculation on various Social Media Platforms, and inaccurate reporting in some press articles, Black Eagle Project confirms the following:

• The male eagle (Thulane) was last seen by Project Monitors on Saturday 8^th June, and despite extensive searching and follow up on reports from the public, has never been found. Speculation has been rife, but the simple answer is that we do not know what happened to him.
• Photographic evidence on Wednesday 12^th June confirmed 2 eggs on the nest, Thursday 13th June confirmed the presence of a chick, and Wednesday 19^th June confirmed that the second egg as well as a second eaglet were not present.
• The female eagle (Makatsa) has been feeding the chick since the hatching, and has impressed all of us with her drive and tenacity. Prey continues to be brought in on a regular basis and she has also been bringing in green” sprays” to sanitise the nest. The chick which will be 42 days old on Thursday 25^th July, appears healthy, and the first of the juvenile plumage will be apparent from this stage onwards
• Should everything proceed normally, we can expect fledging between the middle and end of September
• The efforts of the Sugarbush Ridges Coalition and Volunteer Rangers in destroying hundreds of snares in the area over the past few months, has led to the habitat being more stable than it has been in many years. Consequently, there is sufficient prey around, and Makatsa does  not have to venture too far in pursuit of food
• In the afternoon on Saturday 13^th July, 2 adult eagles were seen flying in the Botanical Gardens which we confirm as being Makatsa and a new younger male bird
• As there is no previous published record of an adult Black Eagle changing her mate WHILE attending to a chick on the nest, we are in a new space right now. Public speculation abounded and it was widely thought that he would not accept the chick on the nest
• Various Raptor Specialists felt that it was possible that the female would continue raising the chick, and that her maternal instincts would make her protect it from any harm
• This appears to be the case at present, and we are curious to see what role the male will play in the next few months
• Although he has not yet been named, we have asked the Botanical Garden Staff to submit their suggestions to us and we will hopefully have a name by the end of this month
• The “Name the Chick“ competition will still go ahead via Northsider Newspaper where we invite the public to suggest a name as we have done over the past few years – this will however only happen around the end of August
• Habitat protection and stability remains the single most important factor in ensuring a healthy biodiversity – any donations to assist will be most welcome and can be deposited to:
  • Black Eagle Project – Roodekrans
  • First National Bank
  • Account no 62108581043
  • Branch Code 250655
• We would appreciate an emailed deposit slip to info@blackeagles.co.za so that we can acknowledge the support
• Black Eagles have been breeding in the Walter Sisulu Gardens since the 1940’s, and since the official formation of the Black Eagle Project in 1992, two adult birds have been replaced. Quatele disappeared in 1998 and was replaced by Thulane, and Emonyeni who disappeared in 2016 was replaced by Makatsa. The current situation will be the 3^rd record

We will continue to monitor and document the situation, and communicate as and when any developments

unfold