THE Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) believes that mounting CCTVs provided by the Raptor Research Project in the bird’s breeding center would raise awareness among the public about the national bird of the Philippines.
Dennis Salvador, PEF director, expressed their expectation that the installation of the CCTVs and live streaming footage on the internet would increase public awareness about the Philippine eagle.
“So with that live streaming we expect more public sympathy and support coming in to support (the) conservation of our national bird,” Salvador told the media on Monday morning, February 12, 2024, at the National Bird Breeding Sanctuary (NBBS) in Barangay Eden, Toril, Davao City.
John Howe, executive director at the Raptor Research Project, said that they are partnering with PEF in helping to preserve and making sure that the eagle survives in the future. Howe added that by installing these CCTVs in the breeding cages, people could observe the eagles from anywhere.
“The stream will ultimately go to YouTube and that is the streaming platform but it will be housed down by the Philippine Eagle website, the explore.org, camera websites, and international exposure of the Philippine Eagle to the world,” he said.
Howe shared that by broadcasting these videos to the world, people will get to know that centers such as the NBBS exist, and seeing these eagles through the lenses of the CCTV could help them have a sense of connection with the bird.
Other than the handlers and keepers of the eagles, not many people get to witness the Philippine Eagle in the wild hence, the installation of these CCTVs would let everyone have a peek at how the eagles are in the wild.
“So this is a stepping stone to that, there’s opportunity to do live cams and totally wild areas too and we’ll see what happens in the future but education and also enjoyment it's really exciting to watch the daily lives of the Philippines, their antics and what they do,” he said.
Once the Starlink internet access is secured they would start building landing pages and in about a month they can broadcast live feeds of the eagles.
On February 13, 2024, PEF was set to relocate some of their breeding Philippine eagles to the NBBS to protect them from the threat of bird flu and human development. RGP
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