“Mexico’s national bird is the Royal Eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) which was an endangered species for a while is now in the best possible hands,” according to Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARNAT in Spanish), Rafael Pacchiano.
Pacchiano made this statement during a ceremony attended by the Royal Eagle Control and Protection National Center, within the Military College facilities, with participation of the Defense Secretary (SEDENA) and the Environment Protection Attorney (PROFEPA).
The Environment Management Unit (UMA in Spanish) for the Royal Eagle protection and conservation will be under PROFEPA’s responsibility, and in November 2018 the SEDENA will take over this unit, which is an organism that looks after the conservation of wildlife, and this one will have the task of an utter rehabilitation of this symbolic species.
The Center spreads over 9,672 square meters, with an investment of 14.9 million pesos it has capacity to host 44 Royal Eagles as well as other species such as red tail eagle and Harris hawk, among others.
Besides being the national symbol the Royal Eagle is catalogued as n endangered type “A” species within the Mexican Official Rule NOM-059-SEMARNAT-2010, so there is a big need to make urgent decisions for the conservation of this iconic bird.
“The strategy for the rehabilitation and management of this species in a controlled environment with special tools has as main objective to assure its permanence and recovery of the eagle”, said Pacchiano, and added that there are currently 20 breeding couples and 317 nests which represents a significant growth compared with the year 2010 when there were reported only 70 breeding couples and 117 nests.
Source: The Baja Post