DAVAO CITY – The national government is in talks with Singaporea environment officials to send five additional Philippines eagles to the Bird Paradise in Mandai Wild Reserve in Singapore for “conservation breeding” under another loan program, an official of the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) said.

Dr. Jayson Ibañez, PEF director for Research and Conservation, said the foundation has already pre-identified the birds that will be brought to the Singapore zoo once the agreement is finalized.

He said, however, that it remains unclear as to when the loaning of additional raptors will happen, but added that negotiations are underway.

Ibañez explained that the loan program is going to be part of the efforts to conserve the critically endangered Philippine eagle from extinction.

“Just imagine all our captive birds are in one facility. If a catastrophe happens, all of them will die. That’s what they call ‘all eggs in one basket syndrome. Let’s distribute breeding stocks and spread the risks,” he said.

He said a risk assessment would still have to be undertaken by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), PEF, and other wildlife experts to identify the potential risks, including the threats and diseases.

He said that the five birds are all captive-bred, and that they can “tolerate the breeding conditions.”

The Philippine eagle is a species declared critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature since 1996. To date, the PEF estimated that there are only 392 pairs of Philippine eagles in the wild.

In June 2019, the country sent Philippine Eagles “Geothermica” and “Sambisig” to Jurong Bird Park in Singapore for a 10-year loan program agreement signed by the Philippine government with Wildlife Reserves Singapore to protect the critically endangered raptors from extinction due to calamities and diseases.

However, 19-year-old Geothermica died last September from a fungal infection caused by Aspergillus molds.

“I don’t think there were lapses because Singapore zoo is one of the best facilities… Although it’s sad, we think it should not stop us from exploring cooperative breeding with the help of international partners because we cannot do it alone. There are successful partnerships or models that we can follow,” he said.

Of the five raptors, Ibañez said that four belong to two pairs, and the one male raptor would be paired with Sambisig.

He added that cooperative breeding saved critically endangered birds California condor and bearded vultures from going extinct.