Conservationists Fight to Save Harpy Eagles

Sharon Guynup
for National Geographic Today

June 3, 2002

The most powerful bird of prey on Earth, the harpy eagle, weighs up to
20 pounds (nine kilograms), has a seven-foot (2.1-meter) wing span, and
is armed with talons as big as grizzly bear claws. Those deadly talons
can exert several hundred pounds (over 50 kilograms) of pressure,
crushing the bones of the sloths, monkeys, and other prey the eagle
snatches from the rain forest canopy, often killing its victims
instantly.

It's no wonder that early South American explorers
named harpy eagles after the predatory half-woman, half-bird monster of
Greek mythology.

The fearsome predator once ranged from southeast Mexico to Argentina. Now, Panama's pristine rain forests are among the few places where the bird has survived.

"It has disappeared almost entirely from Central America except for rare reports of sightings," said Angel Muela, Director of the Neotropical Raptor Center for the Peregrine Fund in Panama City.

Despite its great strength and reputation as "the ruler of the rain forest," the harpy eagle has become one of the most critically endangered birds in Latin America. Its numbers have declined with vanishing forests.

But conservation efforts for the harpy eagle received a big boost last March when Panama's Legislative Assembly passed a decree naming it the country's national bird, lending much-needed legal clout to conservation efforts.

No one knows exactly how many still exist. Biologists have located less than 50 nests in Panama, Guyana, and Venezuela.

Everywhere, the biggest threat facing the bird is deforestation. Harpy habitat is shrinking at an alarming rate, with forests ravaged by development, logging, and agriculture.

Breeding Efforts

Each pair of harpy eagles requires about seven or eight square miles (20 square kilometers) of healthy forest to thrive. The pairs remain together for years while raising young.

Fledglings test their wings at the age of six months, but parents continue to feed them for another year. This means that a pair produces just one chick every two to three years, said Leonardo Salas, director of the Neotropical Raptor Conservation Program.

Because the young birds aren't sexually mature until the age of four and five, it's hard for dwindling populations to rebound.

Some conservation groups are intervening by breeding the birds in captivity. Last October, the Peregrine Fund relocated five breeding pairs from its headquarters in Boise, Idaho, to the Neotropical Raptor Center.

The birds seem happy to be home, as they've produced four chicks; one additional pair may be expecting.

The eggs hatch in an incubator. After a few days, the chicks are taken to an "imprinting chamber," where they watch adult birds in an adjacent pen, but never see humans.

After six months at the center, the young birds move into a cage in the forest where they will be released. A few weeks later, the door is opened and they begin to come and go, sometimes returning for a meal. Eventually they leave for good.

Since 1997, the Peregrine Fund has released five birds. Careful tracking of these individuals hasn't revealed any biological or behavioral problems with captive breeding and release.

But the birds often range over long distances until they're fully grown, which can place them in danger. When a harpy named "James" wandered outside of Barro Colorado Island, the protected area where he was released, he was shot dead within a day.

Beefing Up Public Education

Poaching is a big factor behind the eagle's demise. The birds are killed by hunters for food, and are collected as part of shamanistic practice or for their feathers.

To combat this, environmental groups have made public education a priority. The Peregrine Fund works with frontier communities that neighbor release areas.

The Panama Audubon Society has programs in ten rural communities. "Our mission is to teach people about the importance of conservation of our national bird because of its key role in a healthy ecosystem," said Karla Aparicio, a field biologist and workshop leader.

The missing piece of the conservation puzzle has been enforcement. Until recently, poachers merely had their victims and guns confiscated or were fined U.S. $15. National bird status means that killing a harpy eagle could send a poacher to jail.

These efforts may insure the survival of the harpy eagle, but there's a larger benefit, according to Salas. "Of all the forest raptors, harpy eagles have the largest home ranges. By protecting them, we are protecting large tracts of forest—and everything that lives there."

"Panama's Harpy Eagles" airs tonight on National Geographic Today at 7 p.m. ET.

National Geographic Today, at 7 pm. ET/PT in the United States, is a daily news journal available only on the National Geographic Channel. Click here to learn more about it. Go>>

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