Harpy eagle breeding program moved to Panama
Posted by MelSkunk (Melissa Drake) on Wed 1 May 2002 - 06:19
The Harpy Eagle, largest bird of prey in the world and national symbol of Panama, is now being bred in that country after an unsucessful attempt to breed the rare and powerful birds in in US. Rather than simply imitating the tropical environs of the birds, which led to very little sucess in the 4 year program and no birds strong enough to survive in the wild, the World Center for Birds of Prey has moved their breeding to the actual home territory of the Harpy Eagle.
The Harpy Eagle is a special challange due to its size, need for a vast territory and solitary nature. Habitat loss and poaching are the biggest threats to the species' continued survival.
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MelSkunk (Melissa Drake) — read stories — contact (login required)a student and Skunk from Toronto, ON, interested in writting, art, classic cars and animals
Comments
Fascinating - looks like they're trying to 'teach' the birds to stay in pairs instead of dispersing as wild-born birds do. Which implies that their social organization is not instinctual, but learned/cultural, much like songbirds have the instinct to learn, but don't know the actual song unless they hear it as a chick. I knew that applied to vocalizations, but never considered it might apply to social habits.
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