Saving Philippine eagle from doom

Text and Photos by Henrylito D. Tacio
The third quarter of 2016 has just started.  And June is one of the busiest months of the year in the Philippines. 
For one, it is the time of wedding as June rhymes with swoon and honeymoon.  It is also the start of the school year — even though the rainy season also commences on this month.
Before the month will end, the 16th president of the Philippines will be inaugurated.  Rodrigo R. Duterte, the very first from Mindanao to become the country’s highest official, will take his oath on June 30.
But more importantly, the whole month is observed as Environment Month.  It is equally important among those from Davao as the Philippine Eagle Week is celebrated, which started last June 4 and will end on June 10.
This year’s theme is “Saving Eagles, Protecting Forests, Securing Our Future.”  Already, the Biodiversity Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has started the long-week celebration in Santa Rosa, Laguna.
Why there is so much ado about Philippine Eagle?  Once it is gone, it is gone forever.  Along with it is the disappearance of one of the country’s natural treasures and the sad reality of the state of our environment.
“When the last eagle dies, it shall be the sign of the worst yet to come: The death of our environment,” deplores Dennis Salvador, the executive director of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), Inc.
In the past, Philippine eagles abound in the forests of Mount Apo and other parts of Mindanao.  They can also be seen flying over in the forests of Sierra Madre in Luzon and Samar and Leyte in the Visayas.
Today, Philippine eagles inhabit those places but their number has dwindled.  In fact, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources has declared the Philippine eagle as an endangered species.
“The Philippine eagle is the largest predator we have,” Salvador points out. “By using the Philippine eagle as the focal point of conservation, we are, in the process, saving wildlife and their habitat.”
The Philippine eagle is second only to the Madagascar sea eagle in rarity.  In size, it beats the American bald eagle; it is the world’s second largest — after the Harpy eagle of Central and South America. 
This bird of prey was first discovered in 1896 by English naturalist John Whitehead in Samar.  He first called it the monkey-eating eaglebecause he thought it fed primarily on monkeys and gave it the scientific name, “Pithecophaga jefferyi.” The scientific name came from two Greek words: “pitekos” (monkey) and “phagien” (to eat).  Jefferyi was the discoverer’s tribute to his father, Jeffrey, who funded his expedition.
In 1978, the old name was dropped and given its present name through Presidential Decree No. 1732 after it was learned that monkeys comprise an insignificant portion of the bird’s diet, which consists mostly of flying lemurs, civet cats, bats, rodents, and snakes.
A majestic bird, Philippine eagle stands a meter high, weighs anywhere from four to seven kilograms and has a grip three times the strength of the strongest man on earth, according to PEF.
With a wing span of nearly seven feet and a top speed of 80 kilometers per hour, the Philippine eagle can gracefully swoop down on an unsuspecting prey and carry it off without breaking flight.
Unlike men, Philippine eagles are monogamous.  Once it has selected a partner, it is for keeps forever.  “Once an eagle reaches sexual maturity — at around five years for males — it is bound for life with its mate.  They can be seen soaring in pairs in the skies,” PEF states.
According to PEF, the breeding season ranges as early as July to as late as February.  During the breeding season, the eagles do aerial courtship and mate in the nest or near it. 
The eagle’s nest is approximately 80 feet above the ground (usually on tall trees) in prominent mountain peaks overlooking a river or stream to give a good view of its territory.
The female eagle lays only one egg every two years, PEF informs.  Both parents alternately incubate the egg for about 60 days, although the female spends more time incubating while the male hunts.
Upon hatching, the eaglet remains in the nest for about 5.5 months.  Once it fledges, the parents will continue to look after the young eagle for as long as 17-18 months teaching it how to fly, hunt, and to survive on its own.  The young eagle matures in about six years.
“Our data suggests more than 90% of juvenile eagles die before they reach maturity,” discloses Salvador.  “A large part of this is caused by humans.  Eagles were shot, trapped, and hunted.”
But the biggest threat comes from denudation of the country’s forest cover.  Citing data from the environment department, Salvador was quoted by a national paper as saying that 90% of the forest cover in the country had been denuded due to human activities.
“In each territory, the eagles are faithful to their nests and they like to live in large and old growth trees,” Salvador said.  “Unfortunately, based on deforestation data since the early 1900s, when nearly everything was green, now we are left with few old growth forests.”
Studies have shown that a pair of Philippine eagle needs at least 7,000 to 13,000 hectares of forest as a nesting territory.  “If Filipinos don’t get their act together for the cause of the endangered bird, it shall be doomed to die,” Salvador says.
Efforts to save the Philippine eagles started in 1965 by Jesus A. Alvarez, then director of the autonomous Parks and Wildlife Office, and Dioscoro S. Rabor, another founding father of Philippine Conservation efforts.
American aviator Charles Lindberg, who described Philippine eagle as “the world’s noblest flier,” spearheaded a drive to save the bird from 1969 to 1972.  Within this time frame, several helpful laws were passed.
In July 1995, then President Fidel V. Ramos signed Proclamation No. 615 naming the Philippine eagle as the country’s national bird.  He said that the eagle is found only in the Philippines and as such should be a source of national pride.
“If the national bird dies,” Ramos said, “so will all the country’s efforts at conserving its natural resources and treasures.”