After quarantine, eagle released to the wild

The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has released a young male Philippine Eagle into the wild after months in quarantine.

The DENR provincial environment and natural resources officer in Aurora, lawyer Ricardo Lazaro Jr., led the release of the eagle during a simple ceremony held recently at the Aurora Memorial National Park in the province.

Local officials of the agency, as well as representatives from the Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) led by Rizza Salinas and the Philippine Eagle Foundation headed by forester Ron Taraya joined the activity that marked the freedom of the juvenile eagle after it was able to fly back to its natural habitat last Wednesday afternoon.

The eagle was rescued in June last year from a trap intended for monkeys by an upland farmer in a forested area in San Luis town. It was later brought to the Wildlife Rescue Center in Quezon City for quarantine.

According to BMB director Theresa Mundita Lim, the quarantine lasted until last February as they had to conduct further investigation to determine the raptor’s origin.

“We were searching for the eagle’s original nest and parents. When it was unrecognized by its parents, we decided to acclimatize the bird in Aurora for its eventual release in this area,” Lim said.

Lim, a licensed veterinarian, said that during the quarantine, they also conducted health assessment, which involved some medical procedures including bacterial and fungal isolation and examination.

The Philippine Eagle, also called the monkey-eating eagle, is an endemic bird species in the country listed as critically endangered mainly due to the loss of its habitat.