CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (PIA)–To celebrate the 23rd Philippine Eagle Week, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-10 co-presented the film documentary “Bird of Prey: To Save Our Eagle,” June 4-10, through an online free screening via the Vimeo.com video streaming platform.
The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), in partnership with DENR-10, hopes to inspire viewers and raise public awareness about the plight of the Philippine Eagle. It also aims to “drive the right human attitude and action” in protecting the Philippine Eagle.
Viewers registered online and received the passcode to the film via email and were asked to accomplish a feedback form after watching the film.
“Bird of Prey” is produced by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology New York, USA and filmed by Emmy Award-winning cinematographer Neil Rettig, while the film itself received numerous awards from film festivals around the world.
The film was piloted by the PEF in 2020 to help boost awareness on the situation of the Philippine Eagle, which is now a critically endangered one.
According to the film’s website, birdofpreymovie.com, the Philippine Eagles are critically endangered, with about 200-800 birds left in the wild. Habitat loss and human persecution rank as the top threats to their survival.
In “Bird of Prey,” the filmmakers take the audience on a parallel timeline where people can see the crew make their way to a Philippine Eagle nesting site and find a male and female eagle with an eaglet – on a nest on one of tallest trees, and an eaglet hatched and raised in captivity at the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) in Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City.
The documentary helps viewers understand the intricacies and challenges that the conservationists, more particularly the PEF, meet on a daily basis.
The film also revealed that the once called “Monkey-Eating Eagle” doesn’t only take monkeys for its dietary needs since the Philippine Eagle preys and feeds on a myriad of animals including bats and civets.
DENR and PEF aim to encourage more participative action from people in the conservation of the Philippine Eagle and forests, either by donation, volunteering, or through personal advocacy so that future generations may still witness the flight of the nation’s symbol of strength, power and heritage.
To know more about the Philippine Eagle and how to save them, one may visit Philippine Eagle Foundation Facebook page at www.facebook.com/phileaglefdn. (SAYU/PIA-10)
