Welcome ‘Chick 29’ a.k.a. the recently hatched Philippine Eagle

Don’t you think every “baby” version of anything is cute? Human infants, puppies, kittens, and all the other little creatures seem to just make people get heart eyes IRL. The Philippine Eagle Center has welcomed the newly hatched (and adorable) chick last December 4, Saturday. The photo of this adorable baby raptor could surely capture people’s hearts.

On Facebook, the Philippine Eagle Foundation (PEF) announced that eagle parents Ariela and MVP Matatag hatched the unnamed Chick No. 29 in captivity. It went from pip to hatch in 25 hours and 13 minutes. Pip to hatch is the manner that begins with the bird poking a hole to open the shell of an egg.

‘Seems like a long time, but actually it is the fastest pip-to-hatch record in our breeding program,’ the post added. The country’s national bird only lays a single egg every two years, so seeing this 29th-of-its-kind chick at the conservation center in Davao City was a special moment.

Our new baby is sound asleep. Foster mama Lohwana will look after it pic.twitter.com/NgngMS06G0

— Dennis J.I. Salvador (@djisalvador) December 6, 2021

PEF’s website states that the Philippine Eagle is listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) with an estimated number of just 400 pairs left in the wild. They can live up to over 40 years in captivity, but probably much less in the wild. The powerful raptors can also only be seen in Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao.

PEF’s Conservation Breeding program started operating in 1987 and it’s the prime mover in eagle conservation, breeding, rehabilitation, and education in the country. Earlier this year, the first Philippine Eagle to be hatched in captivity, Pag-Asa, passed away after suffering from fungal and parasitic infections.

Banner: (L) Twitter / PhilEagleFdn | (R) Twitter / djisalvador

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Source: we the pvblic