Philippine Eagle, the country’s national bird, is one of the largest and strongest forest-dwelling birds in the world. Rabbits and monkeys are among their preys and that’s why they’re also called as monkey-eating eagles. Unfortunately, their population dwindled and they’re declared as endangered species due to excessive hunting and declining natural habitat.
Thus, the Philippine Eagle Center in Davao was established to help save the diminishing population of Philippine Eagles. And if you really want to see things that are unique the Philippines, the Philippine Eagle is one of the places that you should visit.
Here’s how you can go to the Philippine Eagle Center
From Annil terminal in Elpidio Quirino Avenue, San Pedro Extension, ride a bus going to Calinan. Travel time is around 30 minutes to 1 hour. Upon arrival, ride a pedicab or a tricycle and just inform the driver to drop you at the center.
- Adult (19 years old and above) – 50 pesos
- Youth (four to 18 years old) – 30 pesos
All the proceeds are used for the maintenance of the conservation center.
The monkey-eating eagles are housed in large aviaries so taking photos of them is not an easy task.
Inside the conservation center, they also raise monkeys to be fed to the eagles. It’s a bit cruel to breed intelligent living organisms and feed them to other animals. But I think they’re just trying to make the eagles to feel what it’s like to live in the wild. And besides, monkeys are among their main food that’s why they’re also popular known as monkey-eating eagles.
The Philippine Eagle Center is also home to other birds species and several other animals.
The eagles are not the only main sources of attraction. The conservation park itself is a great place with luscious gardens and fish ponds with water lilies that looks like fairy tale.
One of the reasons why it’s hard to increase the population of Philippine Eagles is that they’re monogamous – they only take one partner for life. Aside from that, they only produce one egg every two years because they take care of their chick until it’s able to survive on its own. And despite existing laws that prohibit people from hunting the eagles, many are still hunting the bird species.
I hope more Filipinos will learn to appreciate the king of Philippine skies and help in their conservation so that future generations will be able to see these magnificent birds.