EDITORIAL – One saved, how many lost?

Last we heard, ‘Amianan’ was doing fine. Amianan is the Philippine Eagle that was found in a boar trap with a bullet in its chest last Oct. 25 in San Mariano town in Isabela. Fortunately, the eagle was found by members of the Philippine Wood Producers Association, which turned it over to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. The eagle was brought to a private bird farm in Fairview, Quezon City, where a team led by German veterinarian Friedrich Janeczek performed a 20-minute surgery to extract the bullet.

DENR officials want the caliber .22 slug that was lodged in the eagle to be subjected to a ballistics test in the hope of identifying who shot the bird. But identifying the culprit may be next to impossible, given the sparse data on gun ownership in this country. Despite public awareness that the Philippine Eagle is an endangered species, the bird continues to be a favorite target of hunters out to bag a rare trophy. Apart from hunters, the destruction of the bird’s natural habitats is hastening its extinction. The Philippine Eagle population has so dwindled in the country’s equally endangered rainforests that conservationists have taken to breeding the bird in captivity.

The eagle is the largest raptor or bird of prey in the country and is the second largest in the world. Conservationists estimate that there are less than 200 Philippine Eagles left in the wilds, with another 50 housed in breeding centers across the country. But it is not the only indigenous species on the verge of extinction. Environmentalists consider the Philippines one of the world’s hot spots, with an alarming number of species in danger of being extinct. Animals, plants, insects, marine and fresh water creatures are disappearing, never to be seen again.

The government has environmental conservation programs. But even with the help of environmental groups, the task is overwhelming for a government that lacks funds, resources and personnel. Unless Filipinos start caring about the natural riches in their own land and do their share in protecting the environment, hundreds – possibly thousands – of species will be lost to the next generations.