DAVAO CITY – A piece of marble embedded near the right clavicle of a Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) that was rescued in Sitio Wata in Barangay Ticulab, Maitum town in Sarangani Province recently has been removed, the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) announced on Friday, January 22.

According to the center, veterinarian Dr. Ana Lascano and other animal keepers performed the surgery to extract the marble, which was used as a bullet to hunt down the raptor.
A local found the male raptor, estimated to be between three to five years old, trapped in a mesh of thorny rattan vines while hunting for monkey in a forested area near Salagbanog Falls last January 8.
PEC Executive Director Dennis Salvador urged the Philippine National Police (PNP) to classify marble guns as firearms, and, as such, must be declared illegal.
He said a similar weapon killed three-year old Philippine eagle “Pamana” in August 2015, only three months after it was released in Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary in Davao Oriental province.
“This (marble gun) was what killed eagle Pamana and could have killed this eagle, too,” he said.
A marble gun is a type of improvised firearm or zip gun that shoots marbles through gas pressure from the ignition of denatured alcohol.