First PH eagle hatchling at Davao sanctuary announced. Photos from Philippine Eagle Foundation

 DAVAO — The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) announced on Tuesday the successful hatching of the first Philippine eagle chick at the new National Bird Breeding Sanctuary (NBBS) in Barangay Eden, Toril district, Davao City.

The chick hatched on Monday from Philippine eagle couple Pin-pin and Sinag through cooperative artificial insemination, the PEF said. 

"This momentous event signifies a major milestone for Philippine Eagle conservation and represents the first successful hatching at the facility, which only began operations months ago," the group said.

Philippine eagle dies due to gunshot wound in Compostela

Using advanced incubation techniques, including a delicate "help out" method, the team ensured the chick’s safe delivery.

Domingo Tadena, NBBS facility manager and PEF’s conservation breeding expert, said the decision to use the "help out" method was not made lightly.

"The help out' method, involving assisted pipping through air space areas of the egg where the membrane was unattached, was employed to prevent suffocation from excess carbon buildup—a common risk when the hatching period extends beyond a safe duration," the PEF said.

Without their intervention, Tadena said the risk of losing the hatchling to suffocation was high.

PH eagle Uswag found dead a month after release due to suspected drowning

In February this year, the PEF transported eight breeding Philippine Eagles from the Philippine Eagle Center in Barangay Malagos, Davao City to the new National Bird Breeding Sanctuary.

The PEF said the relocation was prompted by the changing landscape around the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC), which includes the disturbances from activities in adjacent lots, thinned out woodland buffer, and surrounding game and poultry farms where diseases that infect birds can propagate and develop. 

The foundation is also worried over the possible recurrence of Avian Flu.

The new chick "represents a new chapter in the fight to conserve the Philippine Eagle, a species found only in the Philippines and facing critical threats from habitat loss and hunting," the PEF said.

The latest estimate of the population of Philippine eagles is 392 pairs.