Davao releases captured Philippine eagle

SUMILAO, Bukidnon – Kagsabua, the Philippine eagle that was shot and captured in 2006, was released Thursday and has flown back to its home at Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park in Bukidnon, the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City said. The three-year-old Kagsabua was brought to Lupiagan village, one of the trails to Mt. Kitanglad summit and it is about 15 kilometers from Sumilao town center. The 4.7-kilogram blue-eyed eagle has a wingspan of two meters. The Philippine eagle’s scientific name is pithecophaga jefferyi. Kagsabua is among the eagle raptors in the world that have blue eyes and these are only found in the Philippines. Kagsabua is the first eagle fitted with a satellite transmitter and a VHF radio that could track its activities. The satellite transmitter will show its location anytime of the day and the data will be fed every four days to PEC. The transmitter can operate for about five years, eliminating the need to recapture Kagsabua to replace the device to track the eagle’s lifetime. The VHF is the quicker means to find the bird from the ground. Tracking Kagsabua down could provide information on how vast is an eagle’s territory, the threats the eagles face and the other causes of deaths of the eagles in the wild apart from shooting, trapping, and electrocution, the group said. Jayson Ibañez, Field Research Coordinator of PEF, said that tracking Kagsabua is an opportunity to know more about the eagles in the wild. “Scientists said that they could last only about 20-30 years in the wild considering the threats that abound them. If we can track Kagsabua in his lifetime then it could give us the exact lifespan of the eagle and the exact measure of the territory it can cover," Ibañez said. The Philippine Eagle Center has a female captive eagle, which is about 44 years old now. Captive eagles have less threat than those in the wild. However, captive eagles could not be returned to the wild because they are not anymore fit due to injuries. Kagsabua was trained against possible electrocution prior to his release. Kabayan who was released to the wild in 2000 died due to electrocution. The advent of rural electrification also posed hazards to birds including the eagles. However, PEF is optimistic that Kagsabua is safer at Mt. Kitanglad as it is a protected natural park compared with the other forests. Symbol of unity The eagle’s name Kagsabua is a binukid term for unity. Saving Kagsabua is a symbol of unity among non-government organizations, local government units and the government agencies like the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and its bureaus. Mt. Kitanglad Range Natural Park straddles along the municipalities of Lantapan, Impasugong, Sumilao, Libona, Manolo Fortich, Baungon, Talakag and Malaybalay City. It covers 28 barangays. Its highest peak is Mt. Dulang-dulang, which is the country’s second highest peak after Mt. Apo. Retired Lt. Gen. William Hotchkiss of the Philippine Air Force, now the president of the Philippine Eagle Foundation, said that without the unity to protect Mt. Kitanglad, then, Kagsabua could not have been saved. Hotchkiss said that the Kitanglad Guard Volunteers who confiscated the wounded Kagsabua from his captor were trained on the laws on the protection of the wildlife. “Training the KGVs could not have been made successful without the collaboration of the local government units in Bukidnon and the DENR and its bureaus," Hotchkiss said. The National Geographic magazine featured the Philippine eagles on a 10-page spread in its last month’s issue. - GMANews.TV