DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 9 April) – Six months after its rescue, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) is set to release “Tagoyaman Fernando” in Bukidnon on Earth Day, April 22.
In a press statement posted on the PEF website, Dr. Jayson Ibañez, the foundation’s director of research and conservation, said the immature Philippine eagle was rescued on October 4, 2020, four days after it got entangled in a “native trap” at the Pantaron mountains in San Fernando, Bukidnon.
It was immediately transported to the Philippine Eagle Center in Malagos, Baguio District in Davao City for rehabilitation after being turned over by officials of the local government of Bukidnon and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to the foundation last October 5 in Malaybalay City.
Upon examination, Ibañez said the bird “weighed 3.9 kgs, had good muscles and appeared to have no serious injuries,” except from an injury it sustained from an air gun pellet lodged on its right wing.
“Because it had not eaten for four days, PEF animal keeper Dominic Tadena hand-fed the bird with fresh chunks of meat laced with supplements. The bird’s eyes were covered by a leather hood, but the starving bird gobbled up any meat that touched its beak. Half-way through the feeding, it plunged its face into the meat bowl and ate voraciously by itself,” he said.
Ibañez explained that a hood was used in the early part of the eagle’s rehabilitation so it won’t get scared with the presence of humans. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
