The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) announced the installation of a retrofitted power line at Mt. Sinaka in Barangay Tumanding to protect the Philippine Eagles from accidental electrocution.
WHEN TRAGEDY STRUCK
It all started in 2018 when Dodong Rodriguez found a corpse of a Philippine Eagle.
Ten days before Christmas, Dodong was on his way to Arkan. While riding his motorcycle, he noticed what looked like a white sack at first glance. But as he got closer, the sack turned out to be a Philippine Eagle exposing their white parts.
“Ants already swarmed on the carcass, but [the] body was still warm,” said Dodoy. He found the Bird a meter away from an electric post operated by the Cotabato Electric Cooperative. The Eagle had burns on their left wing and right foot.
The Bird was brought to PEF Veterinarian Consultant Ana Lascano. She wrote in her necropsy report
that “…[E]aglet [has] been [accidentally] electrocuted.”
A further report by Electrical Engineer Floro Baguec Jr. from Apayao Province Engineering Office stated that the Bird came in contact with the exposed electrical wires. The full voltage passed through the body, which led to their end.
This is the second death by electrocution of a Philippine Eagle. The first incident happened in 2004 in Mt. Apo.
Philippine eagle carcass showing burnt region of the left wing in 2018. (Philippine Eagle Foundation)
URGENT ACTION
The electric company enlisted the help of specialists from the Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network (ARRCN) to insulate the powerlines in Mt. Sinaka, with ARRCN President Dr. Toru Yamazaki as the consultant of the project.
Yamazaki got further help from Suntory, a beverage corporation from Japan that handles the Suntory Fund for Bird Conservation. They got additional funds from the company to install the insulated wires.
Powerpole with the bare wires that electrocuted the Philippine Eagle in 2018. (Philippine Eagle Foundation)
A SIMPLE CEREMONY
The insulated wires’ first kilometer was launched in late March at Sitio Bagtok in Barangay Tumanding through a simple ceremony.
There was an indigenous ritual and a short program to inaugurate the project.
Dr. Toru Yamazaki, president of the Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network and co-proponent of the Retrofitting Project, donating binoculars to the forest guards of Tumanding.
“BIRD JEWEL”
The Arkan LGU passed an ordinance in 2021 that named the Philippine Eagle as the “Bird Jewel” of the municipality to help preserve the Philippine Eagles in the area.
Aside from the LGU, the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office from the DENR planned to declare Mt. Sinaka a national protected area.
Unveiling of the Powerline Retrofitting Project marker by the members of Project Advisory Council at Mt. Sinaka in Barangay Tumanding Davao City. (Philippine Eagle Foundation)
