Philippine hawk eagle shot dead in Albay
LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—A juvenile Philippine hawk eagle was shot by a still unidentified gunman in a forest in Sto. Domingo town in Albay and died later despite efforts of environment experts to revive it.
Gilbert Gonzales, regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in Bicol, said the eagle was recovered severely wounded but still alive in the possession of a resident last Wednesday while personnel from the community environment and natural resources office (Cenro) were conducting an inspection at the vicinity of the forest fire that broke out in Barangay Lidong, Sto Domingo.
“Upon seeing that the wild bird was severely hurt after sustaining a gunshot wound in the lower part of the chest, we immediately conducted a surgical operation in order to revive it,” Gonzales said.
According to Myrna Baylon, wildlife division chief of DENR Bicol, their veterinarian had initially saved the life of the hawk after a two-hour surgery, but it failed to survive several hours into the recovery process.
The Philippine hawk eagle, locally known as lawin, was tied down when found in the yard of the house of Tirso Banares, according to Cenro officer Adrael Haji Jon Barruga in an interview Saturday.
He said Banares claimed to have just found the wounded eagle wondering out of the forest, most likely driven out by the fire.
But Barruga said they suspected that Banares was responsible for shooting the eagle as they found pellets of an airgun in his house, similar to the one that wounded the bird.
He said their suspicion grew stronger because when they returned to his house after the Cenro team had investigated the forest fire, Banares had disappeared.
Barruga said Banares would be charged with violating the law that protects endangered species.
The body of Philippine hawk eagle will be preserved and displayed at the Albay Wildlife Park in Legazpi City, Baylon said.
Barruga said it was not strange to find a Philippine hawk eagle in Albay as there have been a number of lawin sightings in Bicol, with the region still having a number of forests.
The DENR officials appealed to the public, especially those who shoot birds and wild animals for fun, to stop this kind of activity and warned that they could be held liable for killing endangered species.
Under Republic Act 9147 of the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, a person caught in possession vulnerable species can be jailed for one day up to six months and fined from P10,000 to P200,000.
If found guilty of killing of vulnerable species, the offender can be imprisoned for two to four years and be made to pay a fine from P30,000 to P300,000.
