BURAUEN, Leyte – Last June 28, a pair of Philippine Eagles was reintroduced in the forest of Barangay Kagbana here.
PHILIPPINE Eagles ‘Uswag’ and ‘Carlito’ inside their holding cages prior to their release. (Keith Bacongco)
But this significant milestone was not just an overnight effort.
These birds rescued from the wild were translocated from Mindanao on June 11 through a Philippine Air Force C-295 medium-lift cargo aircraft.
However, it took 17 days before these critically-endangered eagles were released into the forest.
Why?
Philippine Eagle Foundation Director for Operations Dr. Jayson Ibañez said that they underwent acclimatization in the area since both came from different regions with different environment settings.
Moreover, “Uswag” and “Carlito” underwent rehabilitation at the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Davao City for over a year due to air gun injuries sustained while they were still in the wild, Ibañez said.
Uswag, a Visayan term for “move forward,” is a male eagle about three-years-old and was adopted by CitiHardware after it was rescued from Mount Apo, the country’s highest peak, in December 2022.
Its female partner named Carlito, which was adopted by the Carl Balita Review Center, was rescued from Trento, Agusan del Sur, in 2022.
Carlito had two air gun pellets lodged in her wings.
Upon arrival here, both eagles were placed inside separate cages at the hack site on top of a vegetated hill in Barangay Kagbana.
The cages were made of cyclone wires and installed with mesh wires with a one-inch hole for snake-proofing.
Since these eagles were rescued from the wild, Ibañez said that they ensured that there should be a very minimal human interaction while they were undergoing acclimatization.
The rescued eagles from the wild need to undergo at least two weeks of acclimatization before its release, according to the seasoned conservationist.
During their arrival on June 11, the hack site was cleared with all human elements such as excess mesh wires, waste lumbers, tents, and other non-organic materials before they were placed inside their cages.
“This is to make sure that they will not get used to human beings,” explained Dominic Tadena, a PEF animal keeper who transported the eagles from Davao City to this town.
The PEF staff installed an observation blind using a camouflage-designed cloth about two meters away from the cage.
Every 4 a.m. for 17 days, each eagle was fed with a live rabbit through the food shoot, which was made of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipe.
“From 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. is the open time for observation. During eagle observation, we also observe their interaction in the environment,” said PEF biologist Julia Lynne Allong, one of the personnel tasked to monitor the eagles during acclimatization period and post-release.
By 7 p.m. to 8 p.m., PEF staff would collect food leftovers inside the cage.
Feeding and cleaning were done under the cover of darkness to avoid being attacked by the Philippine Eagles, according to PEF staff.
The hack site is about 400 meters away from the nearest community in Barangay Kagbana.
PEF senior biologist Rowell Ron Taraya (left) installs a hood on one of the eagles before checkup. (Keith Bacongco)
A PEF staff emphasized that it was very important to isolate the eagles from any human elements to avoid getting stressed. “They are very sensitive to sound and humans, especially they are from the wild. They will not eat if they are disturbed or stressed,” explained Tadena.
PEF personnel established a temporary campsite at the foot of the hack cage using makeshift tents.
The campsite was equipped with a gasoline-powered electric generator set and a satellite internet connection to provide constant updates to the PEF main office in Davao City.
Several volunteers were also mobilized to assist in logistical needs during the acclimatization period and preparations for the release.
Long road
The reintroduction of the founder population was part of the PEF’s effort to repopulate the forests of Leyte, where the raptors once roamed.
According to the locals, the last time a pair of eagles was seen in Leyte was around 2007. An eagle was also seen in the area before a super typhoon “Yolanda” hit in 2013.
The PEF believes that the eagle population may have been wiped out when the howler hit.
Even as the eagles were from the wild, it took the PEF 10 years of biodiversity research and social feasibility studies prior to the historic reintroduction.
Aside from ensuring that there is sufficient food for the eagles to survive, the PEF also made sure that the communities inside the Anonang-Lobi Range Key Biodiverstiy Area are well prepared in ensuring their safety.
This is because human activities such as hunting and habitat destruction remain the primary threat in the survival of the Philippine Eagles, according to Ibañez.
He added that communities in Barangay Kagbana underwent a series of information drives, livelihood program training, as well as organizing of forest guards.
THE temporary campsite of PEF staff in Barangay Kagbana, Burauen, Leyte. (Keith Bacongco)
Among the key preparations was the organizing of at least 20 forest guards known as the Kagbana Bantay Kagurangan. Kagurangan is a term for forests in the local dialect Waray.
“The community was very accommodating, they welcomed us very well and they were very cooperative during our preparations stage,” recounted Ibañez.
The PEF worked with the communities within a six-kilometer radius from where the eagles were released. A pair of the eagles need at least 4,000 to 11, 000 hectares of forests to survive, according to PEF data.
The PEF assisted residents of Barangay Kagbana to develop its Community Development and Conservation Plan (CDCP).
“We also assisted the community’s youth organization (Kagbana Active Youth Organization or KAYA) with their own Youth Conservation Planning (YCP),” the PEF said in a briefer.
It added that they also facilitated nursery establishment and care of 10,000 abaca suckers provided by the Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (Phil FIDA) to farmers in Barangay Kagbana.
Barangay Kagbana is home to about 320 people andsits 29 kilometers away from the town proper of Burauen and considered as one of the most remote barangays of Leyte.
Aside from the Waray people, the barangay is also home to several indigenous peoples tribes of Mamanwa.
Release day
At about 4:30 a.m. on June 28, Tadena led a team of PEF personnel in capturing the eagles inside the cages.
He said that they must be captured before sunrise. Otherwise, they would be facing the risk of being attacked.
After capturing the eagles with bare hands, PEF personnel covered the eagles’ head with the hood, wrapped its body with bandages to secure its wings, and secured its powerful talons with masking tapes.
Veterinarian Bayani Vandenbroeck then checked the eagles’ health to make sure that they were fit for release.
Senior biologist Rowell Ron Taraya installed the global positioning system (GPS) transmitters on both eagles to track their movements.
Between 12 p.m. to 12:10 p.m., Carlito and Uswag were released from a deck located about meters away from the holding cages.
While they were released as a pair, Ibañez said that it does not mean that they would soar together in the forests of Leyte.
A Philippine Eagle takes at least five to seven years to sexually mature.
“Once they are sexually mature, then that’s the time they would find each other,” Tadena added. “For now, they might roam around, hunt on their own in the wild.”
Following the release, PEF personnel will remain in the area for about a year to monitor the eagles’ activities and movement.
Allong added that they will be assisted by the local forest guards in tracking the eagles.
Ibañez said that the movement of Carlito and Uswag will also help them determine where the next batch of eagles would be released within the 58,000-hectare Anonang-Lobi Range Key Biodiverstiy Area.
“If they move away from the release site, we might release in the same area. If they will stay in the same area, we might find another area to release the next pairs of eagles,” he added.
The release was just an initial step in the PEF’s bold plan to repopulate the forests of Leyte with Philippine Eagles in the next five years, Ibañez said.
He said that the PEF hopes to release a total of 18 birds within the next five years to reestablish at least six eagle pairs.