A young Philippine
hawk eagle died after it was shot by an unknown gunman in a forest in Sto.
Domingo town in Albay. The environment expert has tried to revive its life but
of no use.
According to Gilbert Gonzales,
regional director of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
in Bicol, the eagle was recovered severely wounded from the ownership of a resident last Wednesday after it was shot
and wounded. The personnel from the community environment and natural resources
office (Cenro) have already conducted an inspection at the vicinity of the
forest fire that broke out in Barangay Lidong, Sto Domingo.
“Upon seeing that the
wild bird was severely hurt after sustaining a gunshot wound in the lower part
of the chest, we immediately conducted a surgical operation in order to revive
it,” Gonzales said.
Myrna Baylon,
wildlife division chief of DENR Bicol, their veterinarian had at first saved
the life of the hawk after, yet it failed to survive after several hours from
its recovery process.
In an interview on
Saturday with a Cenro officer, they found the Philippine hawk eagle, locally
known as lawin, tied down in the yard of the house of Tirso Banares. Banares
claimed that he found wounded escaping from the fire but Cenro officer Bararruga
suspected that it was Banares who shot the hawk as they found pellets of an
airgun in his house which is the same to the that wounded the bird and his
disappearance after the investigation.
Once proven, Banares would
be charged with violating the law that protects endangered species where can be imprisoned for two to four years and obliged to pay
a fine of 30,000 to P300,000.
Under Republic Act 9147 of the Wildlife
Resources Conservation and Protection Act, a person caught in possession in
danger species can be imprisoned for one day up to six months and fined from
P10,000 to P200,000.
The
body of Philippine hawk eagle will be well-preserved and showed at the Albay
Wildlife Park in Legazpi City.
