Mount Halimun Salak National Park released two male eagles into the Wates section of the park in West Java on Friday.

The two birds, the changeable hawk-eagle and the crested serpent-eagle, are different species. They were rehabilitated at the Javan Eagle Sanctuary Center in Loji village, Bogor, which is under the management of the national park.

The Environment and Forestry Ministry’s director for biodiversity conservation, Indra Exploitasia, said their release proved there was a commitment to preserving wildlife and the balance of the ecosystem.

“They are raptors in this ecosystem. Therefore, their existence in nature is important,” she said, explaining that, in the wild, they were threatened by poaching and forest fragmentation.

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Ahmad Munawir, the head of the national park, said the changeable hawk-eagle was given to the park by the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency in December 2018. The crested serpent-eagle was given to the park by local residents in September of the same year.

The animals were declared fit to be released into the wild after undergoing a medical and behavioral assessment.

Ahmad said the Wates section was selected based on a habitat assessment conducted from March 5 to 11 by the national park.

Indra said both species were protected under a 2018 environment and forestry ministerial regulation. According to the 1990 law on natural resources conservation, anyone convicted of capturing a protected species faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine of Rp 100 million (US$6,242).

Though the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists both species as “least concern”, the population of changeable hawk-eagles in the wild is decreasing. (trn)