DAVAO CITY , Philippines – Pag-asa, the first Philippine Eagle successfully bred and hatched in captivity, turned 21 years old yesterday with a series of activities at the Philippine Eagle Center here in Barangay Malagos.
Pag-asa is the symbol of the captive breeding program initiated by the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), which runs the Malagos Eagle Center.
In 1992, Pag-asa became the most popular symbol of wildlife conservation in the country. His birth also signaled hope in saving the species from extinction.
The population of the Philippine Eagle at present is placed at less than a thousand, with 34 of them held in captivity at the Malagos Center while the rest of the giant raptors were sighted in forested areas in Mindanao and Samar, the remaining natural habitat of the bird.
The Philippine Eagle is a giant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines. It is considered one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world.
Unfortunately, it is also one of the world’s rarest and certainly among its most critically endangered vertebrate species.
At 21, Pag-asa has fully reached sexual maturity. Although at present he only produces semen sporadically, he is already being
considered as a semen donor for the cooperative artificial insemination process which is one of the methods being implemented in the center’s conservative breeding program.
After Pag-asa, the PEF has bred and hatched 23 other Philippine eagles.
The hatchday of Pag-asa yesterday was celebrated with several fun-filled and educational activities for visitors at the center.
The celebration started with the presentation of a special cake depicting Pag-asa as the candle was blown by the giant raptor’s keeper Eddie Juntilla.
A whole-day film showing on the Philippine Eagle was also held at the Malagos Center.
Afterwards, visitors could join a “Pag-asa Quest†game which was held at the visitors’ lounge.
A keeper talk session was also held yesterday where the PEF bird ambassadors – Brahminy Kite, White Bellied Sea Eagle, Philippine
Hawk Eagle and Philippine Scops Owl – were brought out so visitors could get to know more about the birds.