Efforts at conservation of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle (Pitechopaga jefferyi), the country’s national bird, suffered a setback in the past several days with two raptors having died from electrocution.
The first, a female juvenile eagle, was found dead near an electric post in Barangay Guinalaban, Salay, Misamis Oriental on Oct. 1.
The second, also a female eagle, was found dead in Barangay Libertad in Arakan, Cotabato on Oct. 4.
Both had burn marks, and separate necropsy procedures had established that they died of electrocution.
Dr. Jayson Ibañez, Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) director for operations, said the death of the two eagles was tragic.
‘The two tragic eagle deaths from electrocution just three days apart are unprecedented. But the fact that we have now documented four eagle deaths caused by landing on power lines underscores the seriousness of this threat. This is something we can no longer ignore,’ Ibanez said.
The first recorded case of electrocution of a Philippine Eagle was in 2004, involving ‘Kabayan,’ a captive-bred eagle born on November 24, 2002, and was adopted by then Senator Noli de Castro.
Kabayan was released on April 22, 2004, near the Mt. Apo Geothermal Power Plant facility in Ilomavis, Kidapawan City in Cotabato province.
More than a year after it was freed inside the forest reserve managed by Energy Development Corp., he died of electrocution after it perched on a live wire.
The second was that of ‘Sinaka’ in 2018. Sinaka was a wild-hatched Philippine Eagle that was found dead near a powerline in Cotabato province.
‘Salay’ and ‘Arakan’ were the third anf fourth cases, respectively, Ibañez said.
Amid the seemingly unavoidable threat, I?añez said there is ‘reason for hope.’
‘Proven mitigation techniques are already available to reduce the risk of electrocution. What we need now is close collaboration among the Philippine Eagle Foundation, environment department, and electricity distribution utilities to identify high-risk areas and adopt appropriate mitigation measures. Together, we can make these power lines safer for our eagles,’ he explained.
He added that the energy department can bolster the measure by making the mitigation mandatory.
Ibañez told the Inquirer that in Sinaka’s case, an electrical inspection found an exposed secondary line carrying 220 volts. ‘The eagle apparently contacted two energized wires at the same time, allowing the voltage to pass through its body,’ he said.
‘The death led to action at Mt. Sinaka in Arakan, where PEF had validated an eagle nesting site in 1985 that produced at least 11 young eagles that were hatched in that area through the years.
He recalled that Cotabato Electric Cooperative (Cotelco) and partners worked to make the powerline safer around the eagle nesting area, with funding for the powerline retrofitting provided by Suntory Japan through the Asian Raptor Research and Conservation Network.
Cotelco contributed manpower, transport, installation and maintenance support, he added.
Salay in Misamis Oriental would need a similar intervention as the area is also a habitat for the national bird.
‘So what we would want to do is seek the help of the electric cooperatives who are owners of these power poles and introduce an innovative techology that retrofits and protects those cross arms so that they won’t electrocute our eagles. And this is a pretty standard technology already being used by companies in places where eagles are also getting electrocuted, for instance, in Mongolia, the Middle East, places in the United States and in Europe,’ Ibañez said.
‘This technology is relatively cheap hence not impose additional financial burden to the companies,’ he added.
‘The goal should not be to wait for another eagle to die before making the next powerline safer. Bird-safe powerline design should become part of long-term infrastructure planning wherever electrical systems overlap with Philippine Eagle habitat,’ Ibañez pointed out.