A Philippine Eagle at the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao City. (Keith Bacongco)
DAVAO CITY – The Philippine Eagle Foundation is appealing for donations to build 10 cages for breeding Philippine Eagle pairs at the National Bird Breeding Sanctuary in Toril District here.
PEF Director of Operations Dr. Jayson Ibañez issued the appeal on Tuesday, March 3, World Wildlife Day, as some of these cages will be occupied by rescued Philippine Eagles from the wild.
Ibañez said that most of the rescued eagles still have the potential for conservation breeding programs using cooperative artificial insemination techniques.
He added that the cages are needed for imprint eagles.
Each cage costs at least P200,000 to build. It includes CCTV cameras with 4K high definition for 24-hour monitoring.
Currently, there are two breeding chambers, three imprint cages, and holding cages for 12 eagles at the NBBS, said Ibañez.
Seven of these breeding birds at the NBBS were rescued from the wild due to human-inflicted injuries.
“Our goal is to transfer all breeding birds before the breeding season starts this September, but we need funds for additional imprint cages for a full transfer of breeding birds to NBBS," Ibañez said.
Among the Philippine Eagles that suffered severe injury was Kalatungan 2, whose left wing was amputated in 2024 after the bones on its wings were shattered by bullets.
Due to this disability, Kalatungan 2 was never released to the wild and now part of the breeding stock of the PEF.
Kalatungan 2, a male eagle about two-years-old, is one of the three rescued and imprinted eagles set to be transferred to NBBS once the cages are completed, said Ibañez.
Aside from 12 eagles at the NBBS, the PEF houses 18 eagles at the Philippine Eagle Center in Barangay Malagos here.
The PEF said about 400 eagles are still left in the wild.
They underscored the importance of boosting their conservation program to help in saving critically-endangered Philippine Eagles.
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