🪶10.21 Ringing Station: Raptor Vanished for a Month… Is it…?

In 2023, I worked with my ringing station’s head to rescue a raptor and mount a GPS tracker with scheduled data transmission. Everything went smoothly—until the tracker stopped sending signals for a full month last month.

We thought it was dead. No signal, no updates. We reached out to the GPS manufacturer… nothing useful. Then, suddenly, the signal came back.

Turns out, the raptor had been flying over the Himalayas. The GPS failed simply because it couldn’t transmit data above 5000m altitude. The bird was fine. It was flying strong at extreme elevations where most humans struggle even to survive.

That changed how I view animal endurance. We prep for years to cross the Himalayas; birds do it without hesitation. No fear, no drama… just direct action. Never underestimate what looks weaker than you. Sometimes, it’s just built different.