RP eagle gets new chance at freedom
GLT
02/04/2010 | 08:39 PM
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A 29-year old female Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) gets a
new chance at freedom after she was released to her “enhanced and
improved" home at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center in Quezon
City.
The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the
eagle, “Girlie," was released to mark the official launch of the
International Year of Biodiversity (IYB).
Acting Environment Secretary Eleazar Quinto said the renovation of
Girlie’s enclosure was a symbolic expression of the need to
rehabilitate the species’ deteriorating natural habitat.
“The eagle is endangered and vanishing, found only in Philippine
forest. They were thought to be almost extinct except for a few that
have been discovered in Mindanao. The massive destruction of the
Philippine forests, the habitat of the Philippine Eagle, has also
brought about its destruction," Quinto said in an article on the DENR
Web site.
The Philippine Eagle is found only in the Philippines, particularly in
Luzon (Sierra Madre Ranges and Cordillera Region), Samar, Leyte and
Mindanao. It was declared an endangered species in 1965.
An estimated 400 pairs of Philippine eagles are left in the wild
today, according to the DENR.
Hunting and killing of Philippine Eagle is punishable under the
Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act (R.A. 9147) with
penalties or fines up to P1 million and imprisonment of up to 12
years.
In July 1995, then President Fidel Ramos declared the Philippine eagle
the national bird and considered it an endangered species because of
its rapidly declining population
Present in the symbolic event was Kim Atienza, the newly appointed IYB
2010 ambassador who is also the son of former Environment Secretary
Lito Atienza. He was tapped to campaign for biodiversity conservation.
Girlie was transferred to the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife Center
for public education and appreciation in June 2009. She had been
injured and in "sorry condition" when confiscated and brought to the
Philippine Eagle Foundation in Davao City in 1982. - KBK, GMANews.TV