Three Harpy eagles transplanted to Belize
Every year thousand of visitors enter Belize to join their local counterparts in the passionate pastime called bird watching. Today, I did some bird watching of my own at the airport as some very special specimens became naturalised Belizeans.
Janelle Chanona, Reporting
This morning’s TACA flight out of El Salvador had precious cargo in its hold…three Harpy Eagles. For most Belizeans, this could very well be their first and only sighting of a Harpy Eagle.
A female adult harpy can weigh in at twenty pounds, with a wingspan of seven feet and armed talons larger than the claws of a bear that can deliver a deathblow to its prey in seconds. These eagles are considered the most powerful birds of prey in the animal kingdom.
At five months old, the bird might look cute but as an adult, Harpy Eagles can kill you with a look. So it’s no surprise that according to the experts, their very appearance has damned them to near extinction in Central America.
Angel Muela, Raptor Release Coordinator, Peregrine Fund
“Poaching is probably the most critical threat to Harpy eagles. They’re really curious birds that will follow a person through the forest if they haven’t seen them before. And it’s a matter of time before a potential hunter/poacher sees a bird and out of ignorance or fear, shoots the bird and kills it.”
And murder has been the case in Belize. Sightings were few and years between…that’s why bird watchers got excited in 2000 when photographers managed to capture video images of an adult Harpy eagle near Caracol in the Cayo District. So imagine their sadness when they saw this picture: Guatemalan children posing with the eagle that their father had just shot.
The vulnerable plight of Harpy eagles has not been lost on local conservationists.
Sharon Matola, Director, Belize Zoo
“Today Belize is taking a very exciting and a very historic step towards conservation and natural resources management.”
According to Director of the Belize Zoo, Sharon Matola, while the eagles live in extremely limited numbers, we do have the resources to support a healthy population.
Sharon Matola
“What we do have is forest habitat that is so necessary for sustaining a population of Harpies. And what really gets their population reduced…oddly enough, most animals, oh they are not here anymore, well, habitat destruction. But for the harpy it’s a different story, they’re usually shot. And that’s where the zoo is going to play a paramount role in this whole strategy in an education program. If you don’t understand that this huge bird isn’t going to harm you, if you don’t understand that, then you probably would want to shoot it.”
So while one of the birds will go to the Belize Zoo for education purposes, the other two, a male and a female, will be relocated to a secluded enclosure at the Las Cuevas Research Station for procreation purposes. Bred in captivity in Panama, it will take more than six months of transitional care before the eagles can survive on their own in the wild. Flown in with them were several pounds of frozen rats…their diet until they are introduced to Belizean cuisine.
Marcelo Windsor, Wildlife Officer, Forestry Department
“We have constructed a hawking site whereby we’ll be actually feeding the animals there until such time that the animals can show some independence. Throughout this entire period, they will be monitored.”
Janelle Chanona
“Radio tracking devices?”
Marcelo Windsor
“Radio tracking devices, and a few ornithologists including the Belize Zoo, Las Cuevas, Birds without Borders, and of course the Forestry Department to monitor them.”
But a couple of imported Harpies won’t necessary solve Belize’s empty nest syndrome. All sides agree the project is a big gamble.
Sharon Matola
“They have to learn how to hunt, they have to learn to be wild harpies. Maybe a jaguar is going to come along in their third month of becoming a species to go back into our forest. They could be killed or they could be shot, we don’t know. But what we want to do is try.”
Once the scientists are confident the Harpies can survive on their own, the eagles will be moved from Las Cuevas to a new home at Rio Bravo on protected lands belonging to Program for Belize. The birds were bred in captivity in Panama by the Peregrine Fund Center for Birds of Prey. Organisers of the operation wish to thank the staff of the Airports Authority for their cooperation in making the bird’s arrival a success.
