Finance chief worried about bird flu’s effect on endangered Philippine Eagle

QUEZON City, Philippines (Eagle News) — Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III expressed worry about the possible effect of bird flu on the endangered Philippine Eagle.

Dominguez said bird flu will not greatly affect the country’s economy but what was more worrying, he said, is that it may greatly affect the Philippine Eagle population if it spreads to the region where these rare birds live.

“You know what really my concern is with the bird flu? It’s the Philippine Eagle. If the bird flu goes there, we may have to kill all the eagles,” Dominguez said.

According to the Philippine Eagle Foundation, an estimated 800 Philippine Eagles remain in the wild, but international conservation groups said there could be as few as 250 left.

Dominguez is the former chairman of the Philippine Eagle Foundation in Davao.

The Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) is an 8.4-hectare area located at the foothills of Mt. Apo in Malagos, Baguio District, Davao City and situated within the Malagos Watershed.

The PEC, which is under the Philippine Eagle Foundation, primarily operates as a conservation breeding facility for the critically endangered Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) and other birds of prey.

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