Philippine eagle killed in the wilds of Bukidnon
By Joselle Badilla
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 23:14:00 07/16/2008
DAVAO CITY, Philippines -- "Kagsabua," the three-year old juvenile male Philippine Eagle released back to the wild in Mt. Kitanglad Natural Park on March 6, was killed by a still unidentified perpetrator.
The Philippine Eagle Foundation said on Wednesday Kagsabua's tarsi and leg band was found under the tree where he was last seen perching on July 12.
"The incident underscores what we've been suspecting for a long time that young eagles die mainly due to human persecution," Dennis Salvador, PEF executive director told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.
A team of field researchers headed by Jason Ibañez went looking for Kagsabua for a scheduled re-trapping but instead found the radio and satellite transmitters attached to the eagle buried in a ravine between the towns of Sumilao and Impasug-ong in Bukidnon.
Protected Area Superintendent Felix Mirasol has offered a P10,000 cash reward for information that will lead to the arrest of the perpetrator.
"It's too bad that a single person can undo the efforts of the entire Sumilao community in protecting Kagsabua," Salvador said.
He said the outcome of Kagsabua's case would test the limits of Republic Act 9147 or the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act.
"Any person who kill critically endangered species like the Philippine Eagle will face imprisonment," he said.
Aside from Kagsabua, "Tinuy-an" a female juvenile Philippine Eagle was also released at the Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park last June.
PEF has been trying so hard to boost the dwindling population of the Philippine eagle whose population in the wild is estimated to be less than 400 pairs.
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