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Eagles create hefty data bill for researchers

Russian researchers were tracking the endangered species' migration patterns.

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Migrating eagles racked up a huge data roaming bill for the Russian researchers who were tracking them after they flew into Iran and Pakistan.
The steppe eagles the team were researching were fitted with SMS transmitters when they left from southern Russia and Kazakhstan. The species are endangered in Russia and Central Asia, the Verge reports.
An eagle named Min accumulated SMS messages that were out of range of the mobile network, and sent the entire backlog when it unexpectedly flew into Iraq and not Kazakhstan, as was expected. Since the price per SMS in Iran was more than twice the price in Kazakhstan, Min used up the entire tracking budget for the project.
Russian phone operator Megafon has offered to cancel the project's debt and put it on a more cheaper tariff. The offer means that they can continue to monitor the eagle's routes.

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