Military Offensive Menaces Endangered Philippine Eagle

By Michael Bengwayan

DAVAO CITY, Philippines, October 5, 2000 (ENS) - The endangered Philippine eagle, a national symbol of the Philippines as the bald eagle is in the United States, is facing a new threat. This time it is from the conflict between the Philippine military and Muslim rebels.

The relentless government offensive against the rebel faction the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) is threatening the lives of the already critically endangered Philippine eagles (Pithecophaga jefferyi).

(Photo courtesy Philippine Eagle Foundation)

First placed on the Red List of Threatened Species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) 10 years ago, the Philippine eagle has been reclassified on IUCN's Red List 2000 released last week as very rare and highly endangered.

The Philippine military has been waging an all out war on the remnants of the MILF after it overran Camp Abu Bakar, the main MILF camp. Many of the MILF militants have fled to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the Philippines. Protected as a national park, Mount Apo is the sanctuary of the Philippine eagle.

According to Dennis Salvador, executive director of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) which provides protection and conservation measures for the eagle, the military has started a massive military assault on the rebels in hiding on Mount Apo.

Map of the Philippines showing the disputed area. (Map courtesy Bundok Philippines)

He fears that the military operations may not only harm the eagles but also alter their breeding activities.

But Brigadier General Ernesto Carolina, chief of the Army's 7th Infantry Division told ENS that he has ordered his troops to spare the eagle sanctuary from air raids, bombings and if possible, ground operations.

General Carolina said he will meet with scientists and conservationists from the Philippine Eagle Foundation to discuss the possibility of identifying and defining areas on Mount Apo that are natural eagle habitats.

He suggested that the Philippine Eagle Foundation and the military mark eagle sanctuaries as "red areas" where government troops cannot launch assaults.

It is not only the MILF but also the Communist New Peoples Army (NPA) who usually hide on Mount Apo, knowing that the Philippine military will hesitate to attack them there.

Mount Apo, an inactive volcano, has waterfalls, rapids, lakes, geysers, sulphur pillars, primeval trees, endangered plant and animal species and a steaming blue lake. (Photo courtesy Asia Travel)

Salvador welcomed the military's outreach to protect the eagles especially since one eagle was found dead following a military operation in March.

Already, the breeding activities of the eagles have been disturbed, Salvador disclosed, because of an aerial assault in the hinterlands of Baracata, Toril where many of the eagles are known to breed. Yearly, from August to December the eagles mate, so this month is a critical time for their survival.

The eagle, once called as the monkey eating eagle since it preys mostly on monkeys and flying lemurs, lays its eggs in the tops of trees and high slopes above 1,300 meters (4,225 feet).

Salvador estimates there are about 300 Philippine eagles left compared to the 6,000 that flew the Philippine skies 40 years ago. At the top of the food chain and dreaded by many animals, the eagle now finds itself struggling for survival.

Deforestation and hunting are the main reasons for the eagle's population decline, and the only way to ensure its survival is to protect the remains of its habitat.

Philippine Eagle Foundation scientist Hector Miranda said it is unlikely that the eagle can survive in small fragmented forestlands or in lowland forests. But he and his colleagues are hopeful that the bird will not become extinct. "Not if we can help it," he said.

Philippine eagle (Photo courtesy Philippine Eagle Foundation)

What makes Miranda optimistic is that there have been sightings of the eagle in the Cordillra ranges on the island of Mindinao. They have also been seen at the Sierra Madre Mountain's Palanan Wilderness Area where the last 10 percent of Philippine virgin forests are located.

Igorot natives and Agta tribesmen have submitted to the government Department of Environment and Natural Resources feathers and bones of the eagles which have been found in the forests.

Salvador says the foundation is working hard to prevent the bird from becoming a Dodo, the flightless bird which is now extinct due to human activities. The foundation maintains a captive breeding program in an eight hectare Philippine Eagle Center where scientists have successfully bred two eagles, Pag-asa (Hope) and Pagka-kaisa (Cooperation) that are now nearing maturity. Fourteen other eagles are in the Center.

The foundation also implements a field research program to study the characteristics of the eagle and its environment.

To enable the people, especially farmers and indigenous tribes, to appreciate the importance of conserving not only the eagle but the biodiversity of the Philippines, the foundation implements a community based development and conservation education program.