ADVERTISEMENTThis is the remarkable footage of London’s best-known sights – captured from an eagle’s perspective.
The bird of prey provides a tour with a difference, including Tower Bridge and the Olympic Stadium. It also flies from St Paul’s Cathedral, see video above, providing a view of the financial heart of London.
It was filmed by strapping a special extreme action camera to the eagle’s head.
The footage was created as part of an art exhibition on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) campaign to raise awareness of endangered species.
The showcase, called Here Today and taking place in London, celebrates 50 years of the IUCN’s Red List, dubbed “the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species”.
The IUCN said: “Far more than a list of species and their status, the IUCN Red List is a powerful tool to inform and catalyse action for biodiversity conservation and policy change, critical to protecting the natural resources we need to survive. It provides information on population size and trends, geographic range and habitat needs of species.
“Many species groups including mammals, amphibians, birds, reef building corals and conifers have been comprehensively assessed. However, there is much more to be done and increased investment is needed urgently to build The IUCN Red List into a more complete ‘Barometer of Life’. To do this we need to increase the number of species assessed from the current count of 71,576 to at least 160,000 by 2020, improving the taxonomic coverage and thus providing a stronger base to enable better conservation and policy decisions.”