2 Philippine eagles fly to Singapore sanctuary

Two Philippine eagles were flown to Singapore on Tuesday as part of a government loan program aimed at securing the population of the critically endangered species.

A fifteen-year-old male named Geothermica and a 17-year-old female called Sambisig, both hatched and rared at the Philippine Eagle Center (PEC) in Malagos, Davao City, are to stay at the Jurong Bird Park managed by the Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS).

The Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), which manages the PEC, expressed hope that through the eagle loan program, the WRS can "help secure a gene pool of the Philippine eagles for species conservation and as insurance against natural calamities that can wipe out the only captive Philippine Eagle population at the facility."

Philippine Airlines is sponsoring the flights as part of the flag carrier's assistance for the PEF-WRS partnership. 

According to PAL, the pair were carefully boarded onto their Davao-Manila and Manila-Singapore flights on Tuesday. — Margaret Claire Layug/RSJ, GMA News