As you will know, at the NFEFI-BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION CENTRE (BCC) we support on the island of Negros, we have been slowly building up our breeding pool of the endangered ‘Red Data’ Philippine Eagle Owl (Bubo p. philippensis), by learning how to correctly feed and house this spectacular bird – by far the largest owl in the Philippines, and one which is severely threatened by the loss of its riparian forest home. We have learned a lot from this research over the years.

In 2005 we managed to breed the species in captivity for the first time anywhere in the world (a single youngster which turned out to be a female – ‘Bubo’). In 2006 this success was repeated (this time a male called ‘Milenyo’), and in 2007 the same pair of adults, female ‘Suplada’ and male ‘Hinahon’ presented us with another female, giving us a promising founder stock of 10 birds (5 males and 5 females). After the potential disaster of losing one of our initial females in February 2005 we now had the chance to set up five potential breeding pairs, 4 of them unrelated, and 3 of them consisting of wild-origin blood, with the male of the fourth pair also being of wild origin. A fifth ‘pair’ is also housed together, but currently consists of the ‘brother/sister’ pairing of the 2006/2007 owlets which are too young to breed as yet. Our urgent need now is to breed from another pair as apart from our ‘regulars’ ‘Suplada’ and ‘Hinahon’, for unless we can succeed in doing so, there is little point in bringing over related birds to the UK to set up ex-situ conservation-breeding programmes for the species. I have related in past newsletters how difficult it has been to set up compatible pairs over the years, so hopes were high when Pavel Horspodarsky our irreplaceable Voluntary Czech Zoological Advisor at BCC emailed us on 26 August to tell us the exciting news that as well as the reliable ‘old firm’, at long last a second pair, wild-origin ‘Himay’ and ‘Mahinhin’ were sitting on a single egg. We lit the obligatory candle and started to pray hard!

Alas, our hopes were dashed when news came through on 16 September that ‘Himay’ and ‘Mahinhin’s’ egg was infertile! However, we are not too dismayed as there is still time for them to make a successful second attempt as their peers did in 2005, and at least they are practicing! Also, Pavel reported that pair number 3, ‘Dayon’ and ‘Duwag’ were apparently making a nest, with lots of ‘booming’ and screaming at night (sounds like true love!!!). Even pair number 4, wild origin ‘Maginoo’ and 2005 female owlet ‘Bubo’ are noisily active at night – so hope springs eternal for 2009, AND William Oliver tells me that good old ‘S’ and ‘H’ have done it again – a single owlet (their fourth) hatched in the third week in September 2008.

Tony Warburton

World Owl Trust Registered Charity Number: 1107529 Limited Company Number: 5296745

The World Owl Trust is a member of the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA) and the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums (EAZA). The Trust relies on a dedicated membership, visitors, donations and legacies.