A newborn Javan hawk-eagle, spotted in June, 2023, sits in its nest at the Mount Gede Pangrango National Park. - JP/Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): A Javan hawk-eagle has hatched in the Mount Gede Pangrango National Park in Bogor, West Java, according to a report by park officials on Monday (Sept 4).
Sapto Aji Prabowo, the park chief, said monitoring officials observed an egg at an active nest on Aug 27, and later found that the hawk-eagle (Nisaetus bartelsi) chick had hatched on Saturday.
“The mother has been seen nurturing the eaglet,” Sapto said.
The national park, he said, is a potential habitat for the Javan hawk-eagle because it consists of low altitude forest and offers hunting ground for the predator.
Sapto said the hatching was a sign of the park’s success in managing the conservation area.
The hawk-eagle is one of three priority animals conserved in the park, the other two are the Javan leopard (Panthera pardus melas) and Javan gibbon (Hylobates moloch).
In February, two captive-bred Javan hawk-eagles, a female and a male, were released into the wild at the foot of Mt Gede Pangrango. The hawk eagles, part of a captive breeding programme by the Javan Hawk-eagle Conservation Center (PSSEJ) and Taman Safari Indonesia, were equipped with GPS tracking devices.
Hawk-eagles are an endemic species on Java Island, and are raptors that play an important role in the island's ecosystem.
The Javan hawk-eagle, which serves as inspiration for Indonesia's national symbol, the Garuda, was made the mascot of endangered Indonesian species in 1992 due to its majestic crest and conservation status.
The endangered brown bird is facing many threats from illegal poaching and deforestation. The captive breeding programme was started in 2018 to increase the population of the eagle through monitored breeding.
