Setting her free: Members of the Indonesian Raptor Club are preparing a Javan hawk-eagle to return to a life of freedom in the natural habitat. JP/Bambang Muryanto
In a valley below Mount Merapi, Jose, a member of the Indonesian Raptor Club, squatted. On his left wrist, protected by a long leather glove, perched a female raptor, her brown feathers flecked with black and white.
The bird had a band around her leg and a mask over her eyes. The second the mask was removed, the bird’s yellow eyes opened and she stared keenly at Jose. She opened her sharp beak, flapped her wings and shook her three crest feathers. Without waiting more than a second, the bird fluttered up and perched in a big tree. After getting her bearings, she took off, soaring through the air until she was lost to sight in the thick foliage of the tropical rainforest of Mount Merapi National Park.
This raptor, an elang Jawa or Javan hawk-eagle (Spizaetus bartelsi), was being returned to a life of freedom in her natural habitat. For all the bird conservation groups in Yogyakarta, especially the Kutilang Indonesian Birdwatching Club and the Yogyakarta branch of the Indonesian Raptor Club (RCI), this was an important moment.
It was the first time that a wild Javan hawk-eagle had been released into the wild in the south valley of Mount Merapi, and was, as Kutilang director Ige Kristanto said, “the first time that this has happened in the Yogyakarta area.”
Of Indonesia’s 78 types of raptor, the Javan hawk-eagle – endemic to Java as the name suggests – is the species under greatest threat of extinction. Bird experts estimate there are only 200 Javan hawk-eagles left in the wild, spread across the forests of Java, which is the most densely populated island in Indonesia. As deforestation continues to strip back the amount of forest in Java, and as bird hunting continues unchecked, the situation is not looking up for the Javan hawk-eagle.
The south valley of Mount Merapi, which sits at around 1,200 meters above sea level, is home to only five remaining Javan hawk-eagles – hence the importance of the April release into the wild of the two-year-old female, taking their number to six.
“We were very touched by the release into the wild of this Javan hawk-eagle,” said Budi Kabul Prakosa, coordinator of the Yogayakarta branch of the RCI, a raptor hunting and sporting group.
The Javan hawk-eagle, he explained, had belonged to an RCI member who bought it from a trader. As it is believed this Javan hawk-eagle originally came from East Java, that the trader held her is proof that the birds are being hunted, despite its official status as a critically endangered species.
Budi explained that when he saw the bird, he recognized her as an endangered Javan hawk-eagle, and was adamant she had to be released back into its natural habitat.
After consulting with Lim Wen Sim, an RCI member and a Kutilang activist, preparations for the release of the bird got underway. Lim got to work on ensuring the hawk-eagle’s health, and prepared her for release, “the sooner, the better,” he said.
They did act quickly: The RCI member who had bought the raptor had possession of her for only
12 days.
She was accompanied to the beginning of her new life by dozens of people, including members of RCI Yogyakarta, the Kutilang Indonesia Birdwatching Club and several journalists. The party trekked about 4 kilometers through the valley of Mount Merapi, walking along the same path as that trodden by Maridjan, the old custodian of Mount Merapi, when he conducts prayer rituals to celebrate the birthday of the Yogyakarta Palace king.
The Javan hawk-eagle, weighing 1.7 kilograms, was kept in a box carried by two people.
After walking for about one hour, the small group arrived at the chosen place, the long edge of a gorge that borders the Kinahrejo area in Sleman.
Before releasing her, the group conducted some tests: They took blood samples and measurements, noting down her wing span and the length of her body, tail and talons. Her talons were blunt, probably because she had been kept for a long time by the trader who must have filed them down so she could not hurt him. They added a code and wing marker to assist with the monitoring process and later identification.
The process of taking the measurements and blood samples took seven minutes and 30 seconds, which Lim, who was overseeing it, criticized as being “too long”.
But every moment was captured by journalists’ cameras and watched avidly by spectators.
“She has become a celebrity,” said Mutiara, a 9-year-old who had taken time off school to watch the release of the Javan hawk-eagle, which she said featured in a fable in her storybook collection.
After the Javan hawk-eagle had been returned to its natural environment in the tropical green forest, Pramana Yuda, a biologist and ornithologist from Atma Jaya University (UAJ) in Yogyakarta who took part in the release, said there was a good possibility that this Javan hawk-eagle could survive its new natural habitat.
“God willing, it can adapt,” he said with a smile.
But life isn’t going to be easy for the newcomer if the environment cannot actually support her presence.
“The problem is that this new Javan hawk-eagle has to compete [with other raptors] in looking for food,” Pramana said.
He explained that the results of his research suggesting the area on the south slope of Mount Merapi was able to support no more than six Javan hawk-eagles, as the area was already home to other birds as well.
The forested area on the south slope of Mount Merapi covers only 1,283 hectares. Here, competing for dominance, are three types of large raptors: elang hitam or black eagle (Ictynaetus malayensis), elang bido or crested serpent eagle (Spilornis cheela) and elang brontok or changeable hawk-eagle (Spizaetus cirhatus). There is clear evidence of the ongoing struggle for food among the rival raptors, as seen in “the dogfights”, or the “battles in the sky”, as the fierce predators compete for dominance.
To watch the situation and see how the newly released Javan hawk-eagle fares, Kutilang and the RCI will monitor her progress, at least every two days. As one member, Ige Kristanto reminded everyone, the success rate of past releases of raptors into the wild had not been great. The experience and data gained in Yogyakarta will add to knowledge about releasing wild Javan hawk-eagles.
At the time of the release, no one knew just what would happen to this female Javan hawk-eagle. Would she survive or die?
In the short term, her presence returns the numbers to the level they were before a Javan hawk-eagle chick was killed by a troop of long-tail monkeys some months ago.
And in the long term, perhaps she could be the one whose presence helps bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
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