Life Cycles

Verreaux’s Eagles at the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden

- Shane Wilken

Verreaux’s Eagles have been resident on the cliffs of Roodekrans since the 1940s. Listed as Vulnerable and protected in the area now known as the Walter Sisulu National Botanical Garden, in Roodepoort, Gauteng, these majestic eagles have become a focus of attention for many visitors to the park, and photographers in particular.

During the 1970s a female named Emoyeni was resident in the garden and when Thulane arrived in 1998, replacing the previous resident male, she paired with him. In 2016, the ageing Emoyeni failed to lay a clutch of eggs during the breeding season and she disappeared from the nesting area in March. She was duly replaced by a young female with whom Thulane continued breeding. The new female, Makatsa, was approximately four years of age when she arrived and Thulane was about 30.