KIDAPAWAN CITY — Conservation experts are pressing for stricter, comprehensive safeguards to protect the nesting territories of the critically endangered Philippine Eagle following a recent wave of shooting and electrocution incidents.
The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) has commended Cotabato’s provincial government for boosting local wildlife protection, but stressed that urgent measures are needed around the Mount Apo Natural Park.
Dr. Jayson Ibañez, PEF Director of Operations, noted that the Mount Apo Key Biodiversity Area spans roughly 99,006 hectares and can support about 10 nesting territories, half of which are located within Cotabato across Makilala, Kidapawan City, Magpet, and Arakan.
According to the PEF, each eagle pair requires an expansive home range of 4,000 to 11,000 hectares to thrive. However, Ibañez highlighted that monitoring efforts must focus closely on the critical core zones used most intensively during breeding.
“But within that larger landscape is a much smaller core area that the eagle uses most intensively, especially around its nesting territory,” Ibañez emphasized.
“For conservation planning, this gives us a practical scale for identifying areas that need the highest level of protection around known nests and nesting territories,” he added. “These core nesting areas should be protected from activities that could disturb breeding eagles or degrade their habitat.”
The appeal follows two alarming incidents reported by the PEF in late September and early October. Residents rescued a weak Philippine Eagle in Magpet on September 27, which X-rays later revealed to be carrying three airgun pellets. Just three days afterward, another eagle was killed by powerline electrocution in Arakan.
Veterinarian Bayani Vandenbroeck noted that the electrocuted bird also bore a fresh wing wound, suggesting it had been shot shortly before its death.
Ibañez revealed that out of 104 documented rescues and recoveries from 1970 to 2026, about 45 percent of the birds bore firearm-related injuries from airguns, marble guns, and small-caliber firearms.
Alongside calls to regulate or ban airguns in designated eagle habitats, experts are urging utility providers to retrofit nearby power lines with insulated cables to prevent further tragic accidents.