A Magnificent Raptor Returns to the Forest of Belize

Harpy eagle: once the undisputed king of the tropical forest. © TNC File Photo

No Ordinary Bird
At first glance, it’s hard to understand why bringing back a single bird species to the Rio Bravo Conservation and Management Area would make a huge difference.

After all, the Rio Bravo, a 260,000-acre nature sanctuary in northern Belize, is blessed with an abundance of avian wildlife, more than 400 species of birds in all, in addition to 70 species of mammals including the jaguar and four other wild cats. How much wildlife does one forest need?

But the harpy eagle isn’t any ordinary bird. With seven feet of wingspan and talons that stretch 5 inches across, the harpy eagle is one of the world’s most powerful raptors. It can reach speeds of up to 50 miles an hour and was once the undisputed king of the tropical forest treetops from Mexico to Argentina – until rainforest destruction and hunting all but eliminated the bird from Central America.

Bringing this bird back to Belize restores one of the top predators of the Belizean forest. "It’s like bringing the wolves back to Yellowstone," said Deni Porej, Director of Conservation Science for The Nature Conservancy’s Ohio Chapter.

Symbolic Presence
And beyond its importance to the ecology of the forest, the harpy eagle – like the American bald eagle – has symbolic importance as well for the protection of a huge swath of forestland that includes the Rio Bravo but extends throughout Central America.

"We are looking at something far more important than saving a bird," explains Sharon Matola, Director of the Belize Zoo and coordinator of the harpy eagle restoration project in Belize. "This is the largest tract of forest north of the Amazon Basin, and it is useful to use these birds – as we use the jaguar – as icons for forest protection."

Partnerships Help Meet Need
Matola was in Cleveland and Columbus recently to raise money for the harpy project, meeting with committed conservationists from both cities through the help of The Nature Conservancy’s Ohio Chapter and the Cleveland Zoological Society.

The harpy eagle restoration project is primarily an effort of the Peregrine Fund, a U.S.-based raptor conservation group that has successfully reintroduced the harpy to Panama. The birds being reintroduced to the Rio Bravo are being supplied by the Peregrine Fund, but Matola needs to raise money to provide local resources, such as providing food and shelter for volunteer bird monitors and a four-wheeled drive vehicle to use in radio tracking.

Supporting Matola’s harpy project was an obvious choice for the Conservancy, said Richard Shank, the Ohio State Director, who met with Matola last February during a trip to Belize with the chapter’s science staff, which was helping to introduce a freshwater monitoring program to our partners there.

"The Nature Conservancy’s Ohio donors have raised more than $1.3 million over the last five years to help our partners in Belize, much of which went to Programme for Belize (which owns and operates the Rio Bravo)," Shank said.

The chapter’s early links to the Rio Bravo involved protecting the forests of Belize for migratory birds, dozens of which nest in Ohio but spend their winters in Central America. "Obviously, the harpy is not a bird that we in Ohio share with Belize, but the return of the harpy to the Rio Bravo will help restore the natural predator-prey relationship there."

Help Still Needed
If you’d like to contribute to the harpy eagle restoration effort, contact The Nature Conservancy at:

• (614) 717-2770, or
• send a check, made out to the Wildlife Trust. Please note on the check that the gift is to the Belize Harpy Eagle Restoration Program. You can send that check to the Ohio Chapter office at 6375 Riverside Drive, Dublin, OH 43017.