File photo of one of the Philippine eagles held in captivity at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City. MindaNews photo by BONG S. SARMIENTO
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 10 February) – Preparations are now in full swing for the transfer of the first eight Philippine eagles to the isolated National Bird Breeding Sanctuary (NBBS) in Barangay Eden, Toril District on Tuesday, February 13, a Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) official said Friday.
PEF communications officer Nathaniele Noelle Nuelan told MindaNews the raptors are scheduled for checkup on Tuesday before they will be transferred to the new breeding facility, which will coincide with PEF’s 37th anniversary.
To date, the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Barangay Malagos houses 32 eagles.
Classified as critically endangered, the Philippine eagles that will be transferred are the naturally-paired MVP Matatag and Ariela; Eiko, Dakila, Lipadas, and Pin-Pin, which are malimprint birds for cooperative artificial insemination; and Balikatan and Bangsa Bae, which are undergoing pairing.
He said that workers from the city government already inspected the NBBS last Wednesday. The facility’s total area measures 13.46 hectares, of which 5.3 hectares will be the core facility while 8.16 hectares will serve as natural forest buffer.
Nuelan said that the foundation is in talks with the Davao Light and Power Company to connect the NBBS to the power grid, which is subject to the approval of the city government.
PEF executive director Dennis J. Salvador, in a letter dated February 8, said the new facility is away from the threat of avian flu and is more conducive for the breeding of raptors.
He said the sanctuary has six holding cages and one breeding chamber, completed a year after constructions began in January 2023.
In a briefer, PEF said that aside from the threat of avian flu, the changing landscape around the PEC in Barangay Malagos necessitated the transfer of some eagles to “isolate all of our captive-breeding stock away from potential sources of diseases and environmental pollutants.”
It said that a single case of bird flu can wipe out the only captive breeding stock of the species in the world.
It noted that the outbreak of the disease in March 2022 in neighboring Magsaysay town, Davao del Sur – located 90 kilometers southwest of the PEC – “brings the threat right at our doorstep and puts all 32 Philippine eagles in the PEC at risk of being exterminated.”
“That’s losing 5% of the total estimated global population of this already critically endangered bird,” it said.
It added that game and poultry farms mushrooming around the PEC increases the risk of exposure to highly pathogenic diseases such as avian flu, and disrupts the extremely delicate copulation activities of the raptors.
“The slightest disturbance could cause them to immediately stop and fixate on the source of the disturbance. Activities in adjacent farm lots are disruptive to our Philippine eagle pairs’ breeding activities,” it said.
It added that the transfer will allow PEF to “explore and experiment on other breeding and rearing techniques to bolster future reintroduction and/or restocking trials, including experimental chick-rearing by natural eagle pairs.”
The briefer added that the NBBS will be off-limits to the public and will exclusively operate as a breeding facility for the Philippine eagles.
Meanwhile, the PEC in Malagos will close after the transfer but will “remain as a home to Philippine eagles that are retired from the breeding program.”
The PEC is also a refuge to at least 100 other animals that are mostly endemic and injured.
“These animals are no longer releasable in their natural habitats. Once all breeding eagles are moved to the NBBS, the PEC will be transformed into a full-time education and eco-cultural tourism facility,” it added. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
