00:00 A wounded and weak Philippine Eagle was rescued on March 18 in Apayaw.
00:08 He was shot by three bullets from an air gun.
00:13 Will the Bird King be released from the wild?
00:27 In this video, the Philippine Eagle, Narija, is resting.
00:31 The bird is cleaning her body.
00:34 Later, the bird will try to fly inside her enclosure.
00:42 You can see that Narija is getting stronger.
00:49 She was rescued from being trapped in the Apayaw mountains.
00:55 I went to the place where I saw the eagle, Narija.
01:05 Ariel was in the forest when she saw the eagle trapped in the cliff.
01:11 She said that she saw a wound on her foot and it was weakening.
01:16 What did you do when you saw it?
01:19 They put it in a sack, Doc.
01:23 They put it in a cage.
01:25 This is the first time that the Philippine Eagle saw the residents here.
01:30 Why didn't you let it go that day when it was trapped?
01:35 It was trapped.
01:38 She said that she didn't let it go because it was weakening.
01:44 She wanted to take care of it before she left because she knew that it was a Philippine Eagle.
01:51 The DNR and the Philippine Eagle Foundation responded immediately to the eagle.
01:56 They took a blood sample and found out that it was a female.
02:01 That's why it was named Narija Kabugaw, which means "Beautiful Kabugaw".
02:08 Kabugaw also has a brood patch that can be used to take care of a Philippine Eagle.
02:17 After almost a month of rehabilitation, Kabugaw was fit for release.
02:25 One of our jobs is to help rescue the wildlife in need.
02:32 But the real goal is to return the wildlife to their original habitat.
02:42 Here in Baguio, there is a group of students who are doing rescue and release operations in the area.
02:48 Now, we will accompany them to release the rescued brown rat snake.
02:56 We are here again with a group of vet students who are doing wildlife rescues.
03:03 I heard that you rescued brown rat snakes.
03:08 Yes. And how long have you been caring for them?
03:12 We have been caring for one for about a week and then longer, around two weeks or three weeks.
03:17 It's already past five o'clock and we need to be fast because it's getting dark.
03:34 We need to release these brown rat snakes.
03:39 Into a safer place.
03:46 The moment he feels that this is his habitat, he becomes more aggressive.
03:56 Okay, you're free.
04:01 Okay, go now.
04:03 Time to go.
04:11 It's amazing, he knows where he's going. He's going to that place, not the road because of the vibrations.
04:20 That's what they hear.
04:29 Okay, go now.
04:31 The two rat snakes were caught near the people's area.
04:40 But instead of killing them, they were rescued by the residents.
04:44 Brown rat snakes are non-venomous.
04:49 They can help control pests in the jungle, such as fish.
04:54 That's why it's important to release them in the wild.
04:57 Meanwhile…
04:59 Wow, Philippine Eagle.
05:14 We can see the injuries he received from the rat snake.
05:20 But he's getting better.
05:24 I saw his leg band, what number is it? 73?
05:28 73.
05:30 So that means…
05:32 We have a coding for all of our tag eagles.
05:36 The code is unique to him.
05:38 And then, blue leg band is given to our female eagles.
05:43 For the right leg.
05:45 And then, green leg bands for males on the left leg.
05:49 Oh.
05:50 Before releasing them in the wild,
05:58 the transmitter must be connected to the transmitter.
06:01 This is how it can be tracked.
06:04 They observed a brood patch here.
06:10 The brood patch is here, on the tip of the brood patch.
06:15 If they don't incubate,
06:20 there will be a lot of pests.
06:23 But when they're starting to incubate their eggs or brood their chicks,
06:29 it's important that the feathers disappear
06:33 to generate heat.
06:35 When you feel it, it's very warm.
06:38 He has a wound here.
06:41 This is the report that the vet made on the outside
06:46 that there's an entry of a bullet.
06:50 This is what's called a wing web.
06:52 So his left wing web is right.
06:56 It's an old bullet wound.
07:01 The digits are complete, they're intact.
07:05 His talons are not fractured.
07:07 The right eye,
07:09 the cornea looks clear, there are no scratches.
07:14 There are no signs of injury.
07:17 There's a little damage, probably from the enclosure.
07:22 Because it's wild, it's natural that sometimes they want to escape
07:27 and get injured.
07:29 But it's very minor.
07:32 Together with DNR and PEF,
07:35 we will bring Ria to her release site.
07:39 It's too hot outside,
07:41 so she's inside the vehicle.
07:45 After 10 minutes,
07:50 we arrived at the release site.
07:54 We will observe her.
07:57 [Music]
08:00 We will observe her.
08:12 [Music]
08:16 [Music]
08:19 Finally, Ria is home.
08:34 [Music]
08:38 [Music]
09:06 We asked the IEC to conduct an information education campaign
09:10 for the residents of this area.
09:13 You will be her help.
09:17 If we don't join the community,
09:21 all the conservation efforts of the government,
09:26 of the conservationists,
09:28 will not be successful.
09:32 We think it's possible that we can reintroduce or translocate
09:37 surplus birds,
09:40 unpaired immature birds in Mindanao.
09:45 And you're right,
09:47 we think that all suitable habitats in Mindanao are occupied.
09:53 And then we have surplus birds.
09:56 Interestingly, based on the species distribution modeling,
10:01 there are some forests in Luzon that we think are vacant
10:04 that we can translocate or release eagles.
10:07 For instance, the forest in Subic,
10:09 Bataan, Zambales, and Mt. Banahaw.
10:13 There are no more Philippine eagles found in these places.
10:16 The endemic Philippine eagle can be found in Mindanao,
10:20 Samar, Leyte, and other parts of Luzon.
10:24 Currently, there are 130 pairs of bird kings in Luzon.
10:31 And the third is Rija, among the sightings recorded here.
10:36 It's an achievement for us to release wildlife.
10:43 But the real success is when people learn
10:50 to help the animals in need.
10:53 [Music]
11:17 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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