PHILIPPINE EAGLE CASE STUDY

Philippine Eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi

POPULATION STATUS: Critically Endangered

BODY LENGTH: 2.5-3.3 feet (76-102 cm)

WINGSPAN: 6.5 feet (1.9 m)

WEIGHT: 10-18 pounds (4.5-8.1 kg)

Did you know?

-The Philippine Eagle was named the national bird of the Philippines in 1995.

-The Philippine Eagle is one of the rarest birds in the world, with an estimated population of fewer than than 500 individuals.

-The Philippine Eagle was the official mascot for the Southeast Asian Games competition in 2005.

They once ruled the skies in great numbers, but today the national bird of the
Philippines is critically endangered, with only an estimated 400 pairs left in the
wild. Deforestation is the main threat to their livelihood, with hunting also
impacting their numbers.
Recognising the eagle’s cultural significance, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) was established in 1987 to save this apex predator and its
habitat through programmes like rescue, rehabilitation and release, conservation breeding, nest surveys and monitoring, and culture-based
conservation. But they are up against numerous challenges.

“Deforestation is still happening and the Philippine eagles cannot live without the forest, especially with the destruction of their nesting sites,”
says Jay Ibanez, the Director for Research and Conservation at the PEF.

The Philippine Eagle, as its name suggests, is found only in the Philippines, an island country in Southeast Asia. While the Philippines consists
of more than 7,000 islands, the Philippine Eagle is found on only four of them, all within the northern and eastern regions of the country.
Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) occurrence in the forests of the central Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor (SMBC). Note: DENR-NAMRIA
is the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Mapping and Resource Inventory Authority.
Historically, commercial logging has been the primary threat to Philippine Eagle habitat. However, with a national logging ban in place
(Presidential Executive Order No. 23, s. 2011), current challenges have shifted to agricultural expansion and small-scale illegal logging, even
within government-run protected areas (van der Ploeg et al. 2011). The driver for these current challenges in this section of the SMBC is that
Indigenous Dumagat-Alta settlements depend on forest, marine, and agricultural ecosystems for food and livelihood security. A recent report
sponsored by the World Health Organization suggested that the Dumagat-Alta maternal protein intake may be as low as 20% of recommended
levels (Partnership for Maternal Newborn and Child Health 2018). A coherent strategy to protect Philippine Eagle habitat must continue to
consider mitigating protein insecurity in the settlements, reversing deforestation through planting and enforcement, and supporting the
personal security of Forest Guards. In 2018, the Philippines was considered the most dangerous country in the world for environmental
defenders, based on 30 reported homicides (Global Witness 2019). The year 2019 was even more deadly with 43 Philippine environmental
defenders murdered (Global Witness 2020).

Although historic records include rare Philippine Eagle sightings in several parts of the Philippines, the breeding population is generally
considered to be isolated within the southern one-third of the country, in a group of islands called the Mindanao. Deforestation in the
Mindanao Islands is almost complete, and the species is supported by the Philippine Eagle Foundation through a captive breeding program. The
few reported Philippine Eagle sightings in the remote SMBC mountains (Abate 1992, Abaño et al. 2016) are associated with Indigenous
ancestral domains and sacred areas (Fig. 1), although the domain's inaccessibility (due to thick rainforest undergrowth and steep mountainous
terrain) may mask additional nesting territories. Following documented survey strategies (Ibañez 2009), a partnership involving local guides and
a Philippine NGO (the Haribon Foundation) located one new nesting territory on Mingan Mountain in the Municipality of Dingalan, near the
border of Aurora Province (Fig. 1). This finding led to the development of a program called Indigenous Communities Saving the Philippine Eagle,
based in the San Luis Municipality of Aurora province and involving local Indigenous settlements.

Critically, as suggested by Arroyo-Rodríguez et al. (2020), a second local NGO (Daluhay) works with the Indigenous People across the Philippine
Province of Aurora to mitigate deforestation through GIS-based management that focuses on balancing protein access with agriculture
(Amatorio et al. 2020). This program includes building local capacity for sustainable harvest of adjacent marine protein resources, reducing
deforestation, and conducting forest restoration. A previous cycle of the Dumagat-Alta program resulted in 20 ha of reforestation involving
10,000 seedlings of threatened tree species and a localized 20% increase in marine fish protein harvest under sustainable management
strategies (Daluhay 2018). A Participatory Action Research and Learning (PARL) cycle collaboration through Daluhay established the Indigenous
and collaborative Save the Philippine Eagle project. This involved partnerships between local/national government agencies, settlements, and
NGOs, which initiated resource assessment, forest protection, and enforcement. PARL is an iterative transdisciplinary approach to influencing
policy and engaging the public while advancing development and conservation (Watts and Pajaro 2014) through four stages: Plan–Do–
Evaluate–Analyze. As suggested elsewhere (Corrigan et al. 2018, Joa et al. 2018), the project began with the NGOs first learning about local
conservation by considering the Indigenous perspective on values, goals, issues, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Traditional
knowledge (historical sightings, local eagle food preferences, and preferred habitat) was combined with the ornithological expertise of the
Haribon Foundation to create a local education strategy focused on resource assessments and training. The resultant collaboration verified the
breeding Philippine Eagle population in the SMBC by confirming one nesting territory and initiated a certification process for local training on
raptor habitat assessment and forest protection enforcement for more than 40 Indigenous Forest Guards. The program broadly supports the
sustainable future of the community and the forest ecosystem. Formal local conservation plans, founded on the Philippine Eagle as an indicator
species, are now recognized at various levels of government and internationally. As a result of regular monitoring and eagle sightings, surveys
are now being planned to investigate a possible second Philippine Eagle nesting area. In addition, the international Forest Conservation
Foundation has subsequently agreed to support an expanded long-term program titled: Philippine Eagle Ancestral Forest.

Though the Philippine Eagle may spend time along forest edges, and has even been observed in areas where the forest has been logged, this
species is a true forest raptor and relies on pristine primary forest in which to hunt, build its nest and raise its young. It can be found in habitat
as low as sea level to around 5,900 feet (1,800 m). However, much of this species' lowland habitat is being destroyed - mainly due to logging
and conversion of forest land into agricultural fields. When this happens, of course, the eagles can no longer live there. Lately, they have been
more and more restricted to living mainly on mountain slopes, which are generally less at risk because it is more difficult to log or grow crops on

a slope than it is in the lowlands. Apart from being one of the largest eagles in the world, it could be argued that the Philippine Eagle is also one
of the most striking. It has a massive dark black bill with a tinge of blue, neon yellow feet, and pale gray-blue eyes. Its cottony white belly
contrasts with its darker back, and the fringe-like feathers on its legs match the long brown feathers that adorn its head and the back of its
neck.Philippine Eagles are diurnal, which means they hunt, fly, build nests, participate in courtship activities and otherwise go about their
business during daytime hours. They rest at night. Despite their large size, these eagles tend to be fast and agile in the air, which helps make
them very successful hunters.Philippine Eagles, like all top predators, play a very important role in their environment. They are what is known
as an umbrella species. Just as several people can stand under one large umbrella and be protected from the rain, so too can many species of
wildlife be protected by conserving one species like the Philippine Eagle. To protect the eagles, we must protect the monkeys and civets and
other animals they need for food, the plants and animals that monkeys and civets feed on, and the trees that Philippine Eagles nest in, which
helps protect the other animals that use these trees for food, shelter, and space. Conserving Philippine Eagles and their habitat automatically

provides protection for all the other plants and animals that live there too. Though previously known as the Monkey-eating Eagle, this is a
misnomer. Philippine Eagles do eat monkeys, but they also prey on a whole host of animals, both large and small. They have been known to
hunt bats, civets, flying squirrels, and macaques. They also eat birds, including other birds of prey, snakes and lizards. The diet of a Philippine
Eagle varies depending on the island it lives on. Prey found in abundance on one island might be scarce or nonexistent on another. source:
Philippine Eagle in Global Raptor Information Network) Philippine Eagles engage in a number of hunting strategies to score a
meal. Sometimes they simply sit and wait until prey is spotted, or they fly from perch to perch through the canopy. They have also been
known to probe dense tangles and knotholes in trees in search of something tasty to eat.One of the most interesting strategies the
Philippine Eagle engages in is pair hunting. Simply put, one member of the pair distracts the prey while the other attacks it from behind.
Even though Philippine Eagles are large, powerful hunters, any time they go after prey, they are putting themselves in danger. Fast flight
through dense forests can result in bumps and scrapes, but even more importantly, prey animals can and do fight back. This is especially
hazardous when hunting larger prey whose strength and weight definitely put the Philippine Eagle to the test. Scientists have documented
eagles being injured by monkeys and other prey animals. For an animal in the wild, even a seemingly small injury can become life
threatening if it gets infected or hinders the bird from flying or hunting.( source: Philippine Eagle in Global Raptor Information Network)