The beautiful Harpy eagle it was listed as an endangered species decades ago. Various laws protect it and it is even the national bird of Panama, but today it is more in danger than ever because of the black market.
The risk of the gigantic bird of prey is due to the effort of the organizations of illegal trafficking of exotic fauna that seek to satisfy the demands of “collectors” who want a specimen of Harpy eagle in their personal zoos. The business has precise and complex transnational logistics.
This was explained by Felipe Cruz, the regional director of the Ministry of the Environment in the Panamanian province of Colón. As he stated he, in the criminal structures that traffic harpy eagles “Many people are involved, from medical professionals, civil servants, etc.”. Due to its protection, each copy has a very high value.
We presume that it will cost, depending on the size, between 250 thousand and 500 thousand dollars.
To exemplify the business behind the harpy eaglesIt is worth remembering the case that shook the Central American country in 2020. A group of criminals stole one of the two birds of this type that was in a zoo on the outskirts of Panama City. The scandal was such that the Police even offered $5,000 to anyone who could provide information about what happened.
The harpy eagle in Panama
East colorful animal It inhabits the rain forests of much of Latin America: from Mexico to Argentina. However, as Panama has the largest population of harpy eagles of Central America, made the bird, the largest eagle in the Western Hemisphere, its emblem as of 2002.
Consequently, the laws that seek to protect the Harpy eagle in Panama they involve harsh punishments. Not only is it forbidden to hunt it, but a person who has a feather on him can be arrested by the Police, even if he had found it on the floor.