Release of eagles back to wild to continue despite Pamana death

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Despite the death of Pamana, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) will continue releasing eagles back to the wild, according to its officials.

They made the announcement as the reward money for anyone who could point to the killer or killers of Pamana, reached P100,000 Thursday afternoon.

Television personality Kim Atienza, who personally released Pamana to the wild on June 12, offered a P50,000 reward on Wednesday.

On Thursday, Davao Oriental Governor Corazon Malanyaon, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that she was also giving P50,000 to “anyone who can give information that will lead to the arrest of Pamana’s killer.”

Pamana, a three-year old female Philippine Eagle that was released at the foot of Mt. Hamiguitan, a Unesco World Heritage Site, in San Isidro, Davao Oriental, on June 12, was found dead on August 16. The eagle had a gunshot wound on the right part of her chest.

Senior Insp. Zelmar Soriao, police chief of San Isidro, said they were still investigating the killing of Pamana.

Police sources said they were looking into the possibility that Panama flew to a populated area in the village of La Union and was shot there.

But Dennis Salvador, PEF executive director, said based on the data fed by the GPS and radio transmitter that was attached to the eagle, Pamana never left the forested area of Mt. Hamiguitan.

Senior Supt. Joseph Sepulchre, police chief for Davao Oriental, said the governor gave him a strict order to “identify, arrest and file a case against the suspect.”

“The governor is very much willing to give P50,000 reward for any credible, reliable, very good information about Pamana’s killing,” he said.

Salvador said despite Pamana’s fate, PEF would still release Philippine Eagles to the wild.

“Yes, because that is where they belong,” Salvador told Inquirer.

Salvador said the only reason they kept the eagles at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City was either the birds were hatched and bred in captivity or were being rehabilitated.

“Where else would they go?” he added.

The PEF team in Mt. Hamiguitan said that weeks before Pamana was killed, she was seen interacting with two other eagles.

“We were very excited. The team saw a juvenile and an adult eagle interacting with Pamana,” Salvador said.

Salvador said after hearing the news about Pamana’s death, the PEF team first thought she was attacked by the other eagles.

But based on the necropsy done on the eagle’s remains, PEF was sure Pamana was killed, not by another eagle, but by a person using a gun.

Salvador said PEF was hopeful the perpetrator or perpetrators would be arrested.

“Hopeful, still hopeful…the eyes of the world are on them,” he said.

Salvador also reacted to text messages questioning why it took PEF four days to confirm the death of Pamana.

“First of all, we looked for the bird. We were operating in a very difficult and different terrain,” he said, adding that “the PEF monitoring team only had one transmitter with them at the time and it’s really difficult to triangulate.”

“In addition to that, we cannot tell what was the immediate cause of death because we have to transport the bird back to the center here in Davao to do a necropsy report. On August 16, we found Pamana dead. On the 17th, we transported her to the center. On 18th we had team debriefing. We had to be absolutely sure of our facts,” Salvador said.

The Philippine Eagle, considered the world’s largest bird of prey and is larger than the American Bald Eagle, was declared an endangered species in 1965.

Only about 400 adult pairs remain in the country’s forests.

In July 1995, President Fidel Ramos declared the Philippine Eagle the national bird. At present, the species is classified as “critically endangered” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Pamana was retrieved by the PEF team in Iligan City on October 25, 2012. The bird suffered two gunshot wounds, but was treated and rehabilitated for two years at the Philippine Eagle Center in Malagos District here before it was released to the wild.

Another eagle, Kagsabua, a 3-year old male juvenile Philippine Eagle, suffered a similar fate. Kagsabua was killed and cooked by a 22-year-old tribal farmer in Impasug-ong, Bukidnon, in July 2008.

Kagsabua was shot with an air gun while he was perched on a tree. Kagsagbua is tribal word for Unity. He was released to the wild on March 6, 2008.

Another eagle that failed to survive after having been released in the wild was Kabayan, who died more than a year after it was freed inside the Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC) forest reserves in Ilomavis, Kidapawan City on April 22, 2004. Kabayan died of electrocution after it perched on a live wire. Joselle R. Badilla, Inquirer Mindanao