Davao eagle center’s population climbs to 11

DAVAO CITY — Eleven and counting.

Another Philippine eagle was hatched in captivity last weekend, bringing to 11 the number of eaglets the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Malagos district here has produced since the early 1990s.

The PEC said the new eaglet weighed 127 grams when it was hatched Sunday afternoon. The egg was laid last Sept. 23 by the natural pair "Jag" and "Ka Brianne" and was hatched after an incubaton period of 55 days.

"Pag-asa" and "Pagkakaisa," who are now placed inside adjacent giant cages at the PEC, are the most celebrated among the Philippine eagles, being the first ones to be bred in captivity at the center in 1991.

The PEC is expecting another eaglet to be hatched early next week from an egg laid by another eagle, "Kahayag," through artificial insemination.

"Ka Brianne" actually laid another egg last Nov. 9 aside from the one hatched Sunday. But it could not be ascertained yet if the other egg was fertile or not.

The Philippine eagle — scientific name Pithecophaga Jeffreyi — gained more prominence after it was declared by then President Fidel Ramos as the national bird, replacing the maya.

At present, the population of the giant raptor has been placed at a little over a hundred, including the few that have been sighted in certain forested areas of the country. Most of the sightings were reported by farmers in southern and northern Mindanao as well as in Leyte.

The PEC houses 20 Philippine eagles while two others are kept at the University of the Philippines campus in Los Baños, Laguna.

The PEC embarked on a captive breeding program as an effort to help arrest the fast dwindling population of the Philippine eagle. The Malagos center has been the base of the captive breeding program where methods have been developed to induce the eagles to lay eggs either through artificial insemination or natural pairing.

The giant raptor is known to lay eggs once every two years. The PEC, however, has developed the "double clutching" method which would allow an eagle to lay up to two eggs in one season.