Garut (ANTARA) - Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni released two Javan eagles (Nisaetus bartelsi) into their natural habitat at the Kawah Kamojang Nature Tourism Pak located between Bandung-Garut Districts, West Java.
"We are releasing two Javan eagles, named Emilia and Biantara, which is the result of conservation and rehabilitation," said Antoni after releasing the eagles in Kamojang, Bandung District, Sunday morning.
He said that the release of the two eagles was proof to maintain the sustainability of eagles as wild animals and its population and also to maintain the sustainability of the forest ecosystem.
The public, he said, should not keep eagles or other types of protected wild animals, it is better to hand them over to the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) for rehabilitation before being released back into the wild.
"I appeal to you not to catch, keep wild animals, if there are still those who keep them, please hand them over to the BKSDA," he said.
Before the release of the two eagles, the Minister of Forestry accompanied by his director generals conducted a review of the Kamojang Eagle Conservation Center (PKEK) in Samarang District, Garut Regency.
The minister had the opportunity to see firsthand a number of eagles undergoing rehabilitation because previously some were kept by residents, so their original nature as wild animals was lost, some were sick, such as having broken wings.
He said that some of the eagles that entered the PKEK in Garut were from residents who voluntarily gave up their pet eagles, then there were also injured ones due to getting caught.
All the rehabilitated eagles, he said, always had their health checked by a veterinarian, then trained to return to their wild nature as hunters, then they would be released into their natural habitat after they were healthy.
"After they are healthy, then they will train with a larger cage until later their wild nature is coming back, then we will release then back into the wild," he said.
The eagle that was released into the Kamojang Forest, namely Emilia, a female eagle that was previously kept in the Javan Eagle Wildlife Sanctuary Center (PSSEJ) of the Mount Halimun Salak National Park, went through an 11 months rehabilitation period.
Another eagle, namely Biantara, a male eagle that was born in PSSEJ, went through 24 months rehabilitation period before being released into the wild.
