Friday, June 19, 2009

National Guard (GN) environmental squad discovers rare Harpy Eagle at Las Cristinas

Finally, the Venezuelan National Guard decided to take some action protecting our wildlife. Illegal mining and bird trade has severely hurt our wildlife population.

National Guard (GN) environmental squad discovers rare Harpy Eagle at Las Cristinas

VHeadline Venezuela News reports: Adding possibly to problems encountered by Canadian gold mining Crystallex International (KRY), Venezuelan National Guard (GN) troops have discovered a rare species of South American Harpy Eagle -- said by experts to be the 2nd largest bird species in the world -- during a routine environmental inspection at the company's facilities at Las Cristinas in south-eastern Bolivar State.

According to local news reports, unspecified fauna protection procedures were implemented with immediate effect by Lt. Jose Beltran Gonzalez, commanding the 5th Detachment of the National Guard based in Las Claritas after the bird was discovered and seized from being held captive by local resident of Asian origin.

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a neotropical species first described in 1758 as Vultur harpyja and is the largest and most powerful raptor found in the Americas usually inhabiting tropical lowland rainforests. According to reference books the upper side of the Harpy Eagle is covered with slate black feathers, and the underside is white with a black band across the chest up to the neck; the head is pale grey, and is crowned with a double crest. It has talons up to 5 inches in length. Females typically weigh 14 to 20 lbs compared to males which usually weigh 8.5 lb to 12 lb. They can have a wingspan of approximately 6½ ft. Its main prey is tree-dwelling animals such as monkeys but it is also known to attack other birds such as macaws.

The Harpy Eagle is threatened primarily by habitat loss provoked by the expansion of logging and gold prospecting and was all but wiped out, being found only in the remote parts of the Amazon. It is considered an endangered species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The Brazilian Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia (INPA) says there are 45 known nesting locations which are monitored by volunteers and some birds have been fitted with small satellite tracking devices to chart their location and progress in the wild

Labels: ,