A scientist in Russia who studies eagles nearly had his bank account emptied by the phone bill his research ran up.

He had fitted tracking devices to the legs of 13 eagles to follow their routes. The devices send text messages to his mobile phone, and he began following the birds from Russia and Kazakhstan.

The trouble was that one female among these migratory eagles did not stop at the Russia-Kazakhstan border. She travelled as far as Afghanistan and Iran, and that, along with the bills for all the others, landed the scientist in trouble.

Phone bills are one thing at home, but every mobile phone company in the world charges roaming once you go abroad. An SMS from Kazakhstan costs 2 to 15 roubles, but from Iran, with roaming, it comes to 49 roubles.

With no other way out, the scientist and his colleagues at the volunteer organisation Wild Animal Rehabilitation Centre appealed for financial help on social media.

Source: BBC Bangla. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.