The World’s Most Endangered Species;

(In no particular order).

The Philippine Eagle.

The Philippine Eagle is a giant forest raptor endemic to the Philippines. It is considered one of the largest and most powerful eagles in the world. Unfortunately, it is also one of the world’s rarest and certainly among its most critical endangered vertebrate species. The eagle is known to be geographically restricted to the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. As with so many other animal species, the main threat facing the Philippine Eagle is the relentless destruction of its habitat. Every year some of the remaining primary forest on the islands is felled for timber: The Great Dipterocarp (tall hardwood) trees growing there are a major source of tropical timber for the rest of the world. When the loggers leave, settlers who practice “slash-and-burn” cultivation frequently move in. Slash-and-burn agriculture produces poor-quality, weed-infested grassland with bamboo or other scrub in place of a rich forest and is of little value to the eagles.