by Antonio Colina IV, Manila Bulletin
DAVAO CITY – Animal keepers at the Philippine Eagle Center have set up traps to catch a reticulated python that’s preying on animals inside their enclosure in Barangay Malagos, Baguio District in Davao City.
Espoir at three months (Photo courtesy of Philippine Eagle Foundation)
This is after a juvenile Philippine eagle named ‘Espoir’ was found dead inside its enclosure at around 12:13 a.m. last April 5. Espoir, a French word for “Hope,” was an offspring of eagle parents Ariela and MVP Matatag.
Last month, a Philippine subsidiary of global animal health company, Ceva Santé Animale, adopted the chick. The Philippine Eagle Foundation and Ceva signed a Memorandum of Agreement on the adoption of Espoir where the company pledged to provide an annual support of P200,000 to cover the eaglet’s food, keeper care, veterinary care, and shelter maintenance.
The foundation said the animal keepers immediately took measures to capture the snake, a species classified as a hazard under the center’s biosecurity measures. Consequently, pythons are adding threats to the Philippine eagle which is listed as critically endangered owing to loss of habitat.
“Reticulated pythons are natural resident species inside the Philippine Eagle Center and the surrounding watershed area,” it said.
It added that traps have been set up around the center and search parties mobilized at night to capture the snake.
“Preventive measures are in place to ensure enclosures for animals are safe against hazards and incidents of this nature. The walls of the enclosure were snake proofed with an added layer of ½ inch wire mesh on top of the original cyclone wire with hole size of 2 by 2 inches,” it said.
PEF said that the center suspected that the possible entry points could be the feeding chute, made of a PVC pipe where food is dropped, or the screen ceiling.
PEF said the enclosure of the eaglet is adjacent to an adult Philippine eagle from the wild that can easily catch a snake but “unfortunately for fledglings, they are still vulnerable to predation.”
“They are classified as hazards under the PEC’s biosecurity measures. As such, snake proofing was done on the enclosures of the eaglet and other animals that a snake can prey on,” it said.
Dr. Jayson Ibañez, the foundation’s director of research and conservation, said the snake has not yet been captured.
He said the center has already enlisted two Lumad forest guards for help to catch the snake.
“Nagpatulong kami sa aming IP forest guards who are good at trapping wildlife. Two IP forest guards ang nakaduty for trapping ngayon with our own team (Two IP forest guards are on duty for trapping with our team),” he said.
