long dependence period, these eagles can usually only mate in alternate years. Breeding success is variable and is probably driven by a combination of factors, including prey supply, rainfall levels and distance from human activity. In Kenya in the 1960s, breeding success at producing a fledgling was 72% for all eggs and 48% for all possible attempts. Here, various pairs reared between 0.25 and 1 young per pair, averaging 0.55. In the Namibian Nest Record Scheme, where young were monitored for more than two months, success has also been estimated at 83%, i.e. five out of six attempts. At Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, South Africa, 38 of 53 martial eagle breeding attempts were in consecutive years and fledged an average 0.43 young per year. In 63 pair years, an average of 0.51 fledglings per pair was found for the former Transvaal province of South Africa. Breeding is characterized as exceptionally erratic but the inconsistencies of their breeding habits in the last few centuries may have unnatural influences, due to this species sensitivity to human disturbance and high rates of persecution they suffer under humans. Breeding may occur as frequent as in 4 consecutive years or only once every three years with no consistent biannual breeding pattern as in the crowned eagle. In Zimbabwe, a pair studied for 18 years had a replacement rate of 0.44 but bred very erratically: 3 eggs from 4 clutches, then only twice in next 9 years, then reared no young until they bred again and produced 5 young in 5 successive years. The immature eagle, with an average of about four years before it can expect its first breeding season, spends much of its time subsequent to its final separation from its parents looking for feeding opportunities and refining its hunting techniques. There is evidence of a young eagle engaging in a form of play where it throws and tries to catch sticks, a probable form of hunting practice. Almost without predators and other natural threats, the martial eagles is quite a long-lived bird with an average lifespan estimated to be 12 to 14 years. The longevity record for a wild eagle of the species is now 31.4 years of age. However, due to fact that they do not reproduce under normal circumstances until they are 6 to 7 years old and their sporadic, widely placed breeding attempts, makes the martial eagle an exceptionally unproductive