We apply the cooperative artificial insemination and natural pairing techniques to breed Philippine eagles at the PEC.
NATURAL PAIRING
It is a natural breeding method where two Philippine eagles are introduced and paired. Most potential pairings undergo months or even years of getting used to each other before they can be declared mates.
PAIRING ATTEMPT
Due to their nature, breeding Philippine Eagles is an extensive process. To ensure that a pair is compatible, potential pairings are placed in an enclosure with a partition in between. This is to give them the opportunity to get used to each other.
NATURAL PAIR
A pairing attempt is considered successful when no aggression from both birds is observed and when they display courtship rituals like food and sprig offering. Once two Philippine Eagles pair bond and become lifelong mates, they are placed in a larger enclosure away from human disturbances to prepare them for breeding.
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NATURAL PAIRS
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PAIRING ATTEMPTS
PHILIPPINE EAGLES HATCHED THROUGH NATURAL PAIRING
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COOPERATIVE ARTIFICIAL
INSEMINATON
Healthy Philippine eagles who are mal-imprinted to their keepers become candidates for CAI. It is the process of breeding eagles by collecting semen from the males and injecting the sample to ready females.
IMPRINTING
To establish a rapport, our animal keepers spend a lot of time with the Philippine Eagles in their care. They regularly visit the Eagles in their enclosure usually with food and sprigs which they use to build a nest, especially during the breeding season to prepare them for insemination.
COPULATION
For our keepers to collect a viable semen sample from the male eagles, copulation between the eagle and its keeper is a must. The semen is collected using sterilized gloves and is stored inside a test tube which is passed on to the keeper of an available female eagle for insemination.
INSEMINATION
This process is tricky which requires precision and timing, as both the male and female Philippine Eagle have to be properly stimulated before the insemination process can even begin.