Eaglet dies 4 days after hatching

DAVAO CITY — From celebration to gloom.

Barely four days after its birth, the latest Philippine eagle hatched in captivity at the Philippine Eagle Center here died of pneumonia at about 1:45 a.m. Wednesday.

Annamae Sumaya, a member of the center’s conservation team, said they exerted all efforts to save the eaglet to no avail.

The eaglet could have been the 14th bred in captivity since the center started its captive breeding program in 1992.

"We tried everything to save the eaglet but we failed. We are sad it did not survive," Sumaya said.

The eaglet was supposed to be the eighth offspring of Ka Brianne and Jag, two of the eagles in the center’s gene pool.

Compounding the bad news, one of two other eggs initially expected to be hatched this week after the 56-day incubation period, produced a dead eaglet.

"We were waiting for the second egg to hatch but the eaglet did not pip as expected. We just found out it died already," Sumaya said.

The center is now left with one egg which is expected to be hatched next week. "Hopefully, it will be very healthy," Sumaya said.

The dwindling number of Philippine eagles has prompted the center in this city’s Calinan district to launch its captive breeding program.

There are reportedly less than 500 Philippine eagles left, mostly in the forested areas of Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.

The center houses 29 eagles, while the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna has two.

Considered the second biggest bird in the world, the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga Jeffreyi) was named as the country’s national bird by President Fidel Ramos in 1995, replacing the maya.