The Philippine eagle, the country’s national bird and one of the world’s rarest raptors, faces not only diminishing population but also genetic threat that could endanger its survival.

According to a study conducted by the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF), Philippine Genome Center, and University of the Philippines (UP), the species has extremely low genetic variation, based on analysis of 35 eagles.

Because their population is dropping, they have no other available mates. As a result, eagles are forced to mate with their own relatives within the forest, which is called inbreeding.

Authorities said inbreeding produces chicks that are weaker and more prone to illness, so they have a lower chance of survival.

They also reproduce slowly as they lay only one egg every two years, making it like a race against their own species’ survival.

“Ang isang reason bakit genetically or less healthy ang Philippine Eagle is that wala ng masyadong exchanges or gene flow sa subpopulation so ang nangyayari dyan maraming Philippine eagle ang nababaril na nag-thrive mag-migrate o pumunta sa ibang mga mountains and ito yong kadalasan immature at young eagles meaning we are losing of our young eagles na supposedly sila sana ang magdadala ng genetic diversity ng bloodline nila,” PEF Director for Operations, Dr. Jayson Ibañez, said.

At present, only around 392 pairs or 784 mature eagles remain in the wild.

Authorities said humans remain the primary cause of their continued decline as juvenile or young eagles are often trapped or become victims of illegal hunting.

“We have scientific evidence na super taas ng juvenile and sub-adult mortality rate. During the pandemic alone, we rescued a total 20 Philippine Eagles from 2019-2022 that’s the highest rescue rate ever these eagles were shot, were trapped some of them fell to the sea, 18 out of 20 eagles were immature,” Ibañez added.