NORTH COTABATO, Philippines - Officials on Friday transported to the raptor sanctuary of the Philippine Eagle Foundation in Davao City a wounded Philippine eagle caught last Wednesday in Magpet town in the province.
The eagle, apparently shot by a hunter with an airgun, was found and caught in a forested hinterland in Barangay Amabel in Magpet by a farmer named Joven Amacin.
Amacin immediately turned over the eagle to the Magpet local government unit, according to Senior Inspector Reilan Mamon, chief of the municipal police.
“The eagle has a pellet wound, indicating it was shot with an airgun,†Mamon said.
The wounded Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) weighed about 5 kilograms with a meter-long fully extended wingspan.
The local government of Magpet immediately endorsed the eagle to North Cotabato’s provincial environment and natural resources officer, Andrew Patricio, who, in turn, facilitated its evacuation to the eagle center in Davao City for medication and adoption.
The mayor of Mlang, Efren Pinol, said he had ordered the police to restrain hunters from roaming in forested areas in the municipality where there were reported sightings of endangered eagles.