Scientists in Russia got shock when their phone bill arrived. bill was lot bigger than they expected it to be. The reason was because steppe eagle they were following in their research flew too far from Russia. The scientists were tracking eagle as it migrated across the European and Asian continents. bird had SMS transmitters fitted to its body. This meant that when it flew outside Russia, transmitters used the Internet services of other countries. The scientists thus had to pay data roaming charges. These are charges you pay to use your mobile phone in other countries. research team ran out of money after eagle flew to Iran and Pakistan.
The team started page on crowdfunding site to help raise money to pay bill. The page was called "Top up eagle's mobile". Bird lovers from around the world contributed money to the page. The scientists raised $1,600 to pay the bill. Russia's mobile phone operator Megafon then heard of scientists' problems and offered to cancel debt. It also moved team's phone package to one at cheaper rate. The problem for the team started when the eagle flew outside of Russia and Kazakhstan. SMS in Kazakhstan cost 30 US cents, but one from Iran cost 50 cents. A scientist said he wanted eagle to continue sending SMS data to help his project, which will help protect all steppe eagles.
