I virtually attended one of the breakout sessions of the 2021 Philippines Biodiversity Symposium last week, and there were many interesting paper presentations.
Organized by the Biodiversity Conservation Society of the Philippines, this annual event is on its 29th year where scientists, conservationists, academe, non-government organizations and other development workers, and local and national government employees, among others, gather for sharing updated information and knowledge on biodiversity in the Philippines.
Due to COVID-19 pandemic, the symposium has been held online for two consecutive years now.
One of the interesting presentations, although a bit sad and depressing, was the paper of Dr. Jayson Ibañez of the Philippine Eagle Foundation on the human persecution of the Philippine Eagle, our national bird.
Out of the 89 accumulated Philippine Eagles admitted at the rescue and breeding facility of the PEF in Davao City, more than 50 were captured through gunshots, hand captured, poached from the nest, sold and confiscated, trapped, and hit by slingshots. In fact, 23 of these fantastic birds were captured by gunshot.
Jayson cited several reasons for the persecution of the Philippine Eagles, which included wildlife trade, accidentally caught by traps intended for other wildlife, and a retaliatory act due to the eagle’s attacks on livestock.
It only shows that these illegal acts constitute a grave threat to the existence of the Philippine Eagle, which is already classified as a critically endangered species by both the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Jayson said some of the eagles were released back to the wild after they underwent rehabilitation. The PEF has also been successful in captive breeding of the Philippine Eagle, the latest of which was the hatching of the 29th Philippine Eagle chick on December 4. Some of these successfully bred eagles were already released into the wild.
The Philippine eagle is similarly under threat due to destruction and loss of habitats. Since this is a large species and usually flies and hovers above forest canopies, this bird, which was first discovered in Samar, requires large and contiguous forest habitats. This is one of the reasons that this species is only restricted in much larger islands of the country, specifically Samar, Leyte, Mindanao, and Luzon. Historical geographic data showed that Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao were one landmass before.
The Philippine Eagle is known as the largest forest rapture in the country, and it is one of the rare eagles in the world. According to the PEF, there are only about 400 pairs of Philippine Eagles left in the wild.
The PEF estimates that a pair of the Philippine Eagle needs about 4,000 to 11,000 hectares of forest to thrive in the wild, depending on the number of prey items in the area.
The PEF continuously conducts studies on Philippine Eagle, in collaboration with local and international scientists. Among of their findings include the following:
• Philippine Eagles are solitary and territorial creatures. They take five to seven years to sexually mature.
• The eagles only lay a single egg every two years. They wait for their offspring to make it on their own (usually within two years) before producing another offspring.
• They typically nest on large dipterocarp trees like the native species Lauan.
• They can live up to 40+ years in captivity but probably much less in the wild
• The egg is incubated alternately by both eagle parents for about 58 – 60 days, with the male eagle doing most of the hunting during the first 40 days of the eaglet’s life while the female stays with the young.*