ANOTHER wounded eagle was rescued along the Sibulan River in Davao del Sur, this time by a Bagobo-Tagabawa farmer, Henry Andi, who shooed a gang of crows attacking the eagle and sought AboitizPower subsidiary Hedcor’s help for its immediate turnover to the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF).
This is the second eagle saved by Hedcor, after it successfully helped Mabikkerr—a Pinsker’s hawk-eagle—in 2015.
The PEF said the eagle is an adult Southern Philippine hawk-eagle, a family of eagle that is already endangered and in need of human protection.
“The eagle was weak and dehydrated,” PEF biologist Giovanne Tampos said.
The attack injured the eagle’s left wing, and disabled it to fly and stand. Fortunately, through the teamwork among the Provincial Environmental and Natural Resources, Hedcor, and the local residents of Barangay Sibulan, the two groups have been educated through Hedcor’s information-education campaigns on bird protection.
Currently, the hawk-eagle is under the care of the foundation, and is getting better.
“The hawk-eagle is still under observation. Its food ration is given with vitamins; and though the wound on its left wing still needs medication, the eagle can now stand and eat on its own,” Tampos said.
After two weeks of observation, the eagle’s weight increased to 900 grams, from 750 grams. Its average normal weight is 1,500 grams.
Hedcor hopes the eagle will soon be soaring back to the wild, like Mabikkerr. In 2015, after 37 days of intensive care by Hedcor’s wildlife veterinarian consultant Dr. Bo Puentespina, Mabikkerr was released by Bagobo-Tagabawa Berny Apal and Hedcor President Rene Ronquillo back to the protected forest of Mount Apo National Park.