On June 4, a pair of captive-bred Philippine eagles will fly to Singapore as part of a Wildlife Loan Agreement (WLA) entered into by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), Singapore’s leading wildlife conservation organization.
Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu and WRS Deputy Executive Officer Cheng Wen-Haur signed the agreement highlighting a first of such agreement for the critically endangered Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), the country’s national bird.
Only about 400 pairs of the eagles are left in the wild, owing to the massive habitat loss and hunting for food and trophy.
50 years of friendship
Witnessed by Gerard Ho Wei Hong, the ambassador of Singapore to the Philippines, and Joseph del Mar Yap, the Philippine ambassador to Singapore, the signing of the WLA on May 20 marked 50 years of friendship between the Philippines and Singapore.
“Sending [the Philippine eagles named] Geothermica and Sambisig to Singapore acts as a biodiversity measure to ensure the survival of the species and as a fallback population in the event of catastrophic events like disease outbreaks or extreme natural calamities taking place in their Philippine habitats,” Cimatu said during a news conference after the signing of the WLA at the DENR Central Office.
For his part, Wen-Haur expressed his gratitude to the DENR for entrusting the Philippine eagle to the WRS, as an act of friendship that will strengthen the relationship between the two countries.
“The loan of the eagles this year is especially symbolic as it coincides with the 50th anniversary of friendship between the Philippines and Singapore,” he said.
Mutual benefits
DENR Assistant Secretary for Staff Bureaus Ricardo Calderon said the Philippines and Singapore are mutual beneficiaries of the WLA.
“For the Philippines, it will receive technical assistance for the possible release of any progenies of the loaned eagles; the promotion of the Philippine eagle to international visitors of the Jurong Bird Park; and capacity building through staff exchanges in the areas of management; research to be agreed with WRS; and technical support for in-country activities for the duration of the WLA from WRS,” he said.
Calderon said for WRS, having the Philippine eagles means the opportunity to showcase one of the rarest and largest eagles in the world as among the attraction of the Jurong Bird Park.
“It will also benefit from the capacity building of WRS staff on wildlife management through staff exchange to be agreed with the DENR and PEF [Philippine Eagles Foundation] having been successful in its captive-breeding program,” he said.
Lastly, he said the partnership provides an avenue to broaden its outreach and partnership with like-minded organizations in Southeast Asia in pursuit of its corporate mission.
Ambassadors of Philippine biodiversity
Staying indefinitely at the Jurong Bird Park for the purpose of conservation through captive-breeding, the Philippine eagles, Geothermica and Sambisig, both captive-bred and raised by the PEF at the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Davao City, will play a crucial role as ambassadors of Philippine biodiversity, the DENR chief said.
“The Philippine eagle is an ideal ambassador of Philippine biodiversity, perfect for the purpose of generating awareness on the urgent need for conservation,” Cimatu said.
The 15-year-old Geothermica, a male, hatched on January 7, 2004, is an offspring of Junior and Kahayag from Mindanao.
The female eagle, Sambisig, on the other hand, is currently 17 years old. It was hatched on November 17, 2002. Sambisig’s parents are Sam and Diamante, the most prolific pair in the PEC.
The DENR chief underscored the need to increase the global awareness about species conservation, in time for the celebration of the International Day of Biological Diversity.
Cimatu said the program also aims to stimulate international support for an in situ, or original site, conservation program for the Philippine eagle, along with a biosecurity measure against risks arising from potentially catastrophic events such as disease outbreaks that could wipe out the population of the Philippine eagle.
Insurance policy
During the press conference, Dennis Salvador, executive director of PEF, the DENR’s conservation partner since the 1990s, said sending Geothermica and Sambisig to Singapore is a sort of an insurance policy to save the species from extinction in case of a disease outbreak.
He noted that the Philippines was recently hit by the deadly avian influenza virus or the bird flu virus, and it was only recently that the country was declared bird flu-free by the Department of Agriculture.
Fortunately, he said the Philippine eagle population is unaffected by the virus.
“Otherwise, the population of the Philippine eagle would have been wiped out already,” he said.
WRS track record
The WRS prides itself as a collection-based conservation organization.
According to Wen-Haur, the WLA will see a long-term active partnership between the Philippines and Singapore to protect and breed the Philippine eagle outside its native country.
“We have specially curated populations of animals in our parks in Singapore, which are taken care of professionally and scientifically with the ultimate goal of ensuring their survival on this planet,” he said.
Currently, he said WRS supports over 30 field conservation areas in Southeast Asia, mainly through funding and capacity-building initiatives.
WRS has also worked closely and supported various nongovernment organizations in the protection of several species in the Philippines. For birds, these are the Luzon bleeding-heart, the Mindanao bleeding-heart, the critically endangered Philippine cockatoo, southern rufous hornbill, Luzon hornbill, yellow-breasted fruit dove and the coleto.
WRS is also working for the conservation of nonavian species like the Palawan forest turtle and the Palawan pangolins, both critically endangered species.
Jurong Bird Park
The pair of Philippine eagles will be a big addition to the Jurong Bird Park, a 20-hectare hillside haven for close to 3,500 birds across 400 species, of which 20 percent are threatened.
Famous for its large and immersive walk-in aviaries, such as Lory Loft, Jungle Jewels, Waterfall Aviary and the recently revamped Parrot Paradise, the Jurong Bird Park is the first in the world to breed the Malayan black hornbill in 1995 and the 12-wired bird-of-paradise in 2001, for which it received the Breeders’ Award from the American Pheasant and Waterfowl Society.
WLA terms and conditions
The PEF has a successful captive-breeding program and has so far produced 28 eagles since the 1990s. However, some eagles that were released into the wild are often captured, if not injured, or worse, shot to death by hunters in recent years.
A Philippine eagle can reproduce once every two years, and as they pair for life, with the shrinking forest canopy ideal for their survival, raising a chick is a big challenge. A Philippine eagle pair needs at least 7,000 hectares to 13,000 hectares of thick, healthy forests to survive.
Under the Philippine-Singapore WLA, the Philippine eagle pair and their offspring will remain a property of the Philippines and shall only for conservation breeding, public awareness, education and other conservation-oriented purposes. They shall not be used for commercial purposes, including biomedical or commercial research.
The WRS, as part of the deal, is also committed to make available an annual conservation fund amounting to $20,000 with an annual increment of 10 percent, and shall promote and coordinate staff exchanges for training and capability building in the areas of animal husbandry, veterinary management, animal welfare, designs, zoo, education and marketing.
Bigger cage, meat diet
Interviewed by the BusinessMirror, Salvador said Geothermica and Sambisig will have access to a bigger cage under the care of the WRS, including better fresh-meat diet.
A Philippine eagle needs to consume at least 300 grams of fresh meat.
Out in the wild, Philippine eagles hunt for prey, making survival difficult in a territory with lesser prey to feed on.
Flying lemurs, monkeys, snakes, lizards, rats and civet cats are among their favorites.
A crown jewel
According to Cimatu, the Philippine eagle is considered the crown jewel of Philippine biodiversity and an integral part of the country’s rich heritage.
“As our national bird, it embodies our aspiration to soar high as a nation. On the global stage, the Philippine eagle is the largest among extant eagles in terms of length and wing surface,” he explained.
He said the signing of the WLA with Singapore was a boost to the DENR’s initiatives to save the Philippine eagle as it underscores the importance and urgency of providing safe havens—whether here or abroad—to the biodiversity that is part of Filipino identity, as exemplified by the Philippine eagle.
Image credits: Philippine Eagle Foundation