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Conservation and Ecology of the Philippine Eagle
What species: Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi; "Haring Ibon" in the Philippine language Tagalog).
Where: Mindanao Island, Philippines; also the islands of Luzon, Samar and Leyte.
Who: The Philippine Government, through its Philippine Raptor Conservation Program (PRCP) supported by Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) with Dr. Todd Katzner. Others with an interest in this species include Conservation International - Philippines, Haribon Foundation and several other local NGOs, as well as international organizations including The Peregrine Fund and BirdLife International.
When: National Aviary involvement is from 2005 – present. PEF has been working for more than 30 years for the conservation of the Philippine Eagle and the tropical ecosystems on which it depends.
Why: The Philippine Eagle, one of the largest eagles in the world, is found exclusively in the Philippines, where it is the national bird. This remarkable predator is also one of the world’s most threatened raptors and IUCN lists its conservation status as critically endangered. Amazingly for such a large and prominent species, it is also one of the world’s least well known eagles.
The demography, habitat selection and general ecology of any species are central parameters for conservation, yet such information is almost completely absent for Philippine Eagles (the only exception being eagle populations studied by PEF on the island of Mindanao). This scarcity of information complicates conservation efforts on their behalf. The goal of our research is to focus effort on this rare species to address this significant gap in our knowledge. We also aim to build the capacity of the local government officials to survey for and protect this magnificent bird of prey.
Beyond its threatened status, the Philippine Eagle is of special concern because of its significance as both an indicator and an umbrella species for conservation. The eagle’s habitat, primary forests in the Philippine archipelago, is being rapidly denuded by illegal and legal logging and slash and burn agriculture. Preliminary PEF research suggests that the species is severely threatened from direct persecution by humans and from indirect anthropogenic factors.
Current Goals: In the face of these threats, conservation management is essential. For management to be effective, we must understand the status and distribution of Philippine Eagles throughout their range. In recent years, PEF has conducted extensive fieldwork on the island of Mindanao and has developed an effective and efficient survey protocol for eagles. Through application of this protocol PEF was able to generate the first reasonable population estimate for the species in any part of its range. More recently, PEF has also begun investigations in some parts of the island of Luzon.
One component of our studies will be to apply the Mindanao eagle survey protocols in the first ever comprehensive survey for Philippine Eagles on the islands of Samar and Leyte. These eagle surveys are accompanied by educational efforts to help local residents manage habitat and minimize persecution of the birds. Because of the nature of the conservation problems at hand, as part of this project we also aim to train government employees so that they are better able to monitor and protect eagles and conserve their habitat.
Next steps: As we develop this project we are searching for additional ways to fund our activities and also identifying key priorities for research and conservation action. These are described in greater detail in the next sections.
