|
Farmer arrested for killing, eating rare Philippines eagle
A farmer has been detained by southern Philippines police after he confessed to shooting and eating one of the world's largest and rarest eagles, wildlife officials told AFP on Friday.
| Who the hell eats eagles, fergawdsake? |
The July 10 attack on the two-year-old, four-kilogram (8.8-pound) male eagle on the slopes of Mount Kitanglad on Mindanao island was deemed a major setback in attempts to save the critically endangered species from extinction.
| Owls, I can understand. Bustards, maybe... |
The bird, nicknamed "Kagsabua", had only been released back into the wild four months earlier after it was shot and wounded with a lead pellet by game hunters in the Kitanglad range.
"There! Over there! What's that?"
"Man! That's a big chicken!"
"That ain't no chicken! It's a... a... ummm... a bustard!"
"Quick! Kill it!" |
A radio tracking device attached to the eagle and later buried by the 20-year-old suspect led to the arrest on Wednesday, officials said.
"Whatja do with the radio tracking device, Narcisso?"
"I buried it under my bed." |
Killing endangered species is punishable by a 12-year prison term and stiff fines. Fewer than 250 adult Pithecophaga jefferyi, with a two-metre (6.6-foot) wingspan and magnificent mantle of feathers on its nape, are estimated to be left in the Philippines, and are found nowhere else, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
"Hey! Check this out!"
"Wow! Three foot buffalo wings!" |
"He was worth more than a brother to me," said a devastated Philippine Eagle Foundation biologist Giovanni Tampus, part of a four-member team who had tracked the bird daily after its release back into the wild.
Posted by: Fred 2008-07-19 |
