Royal-Eagle, as the species H. harpyja is known, is common in the forests of the neotropical region and its distribution is quite wide in the Brazilian territory, its largest records are mainly in the Amazon and Atlantic Forest. Brazilian forests have been drastically reduced by anthropic action and this has promoted harpy eagle’s habitat loss. This intense anthropic process makes this species vulnerable, but its status has not yet changed in the list of threatened species in Brazil and IUCN one, where it is listed as almost threatened.
The harpy eagle is a species that has a long lifespan, being able to live longer than 30 years in captivity, and, due to being a predator at the top of the food chain, it has a low and slow reproductive rate. Thus, the reduction of prey populations, as recently happened, can have negative and serious consequences for the stability of this predator.
The diet of the harpy eagle, the main aerial predator in the Amazon, is based exclusively on mammals that live in the treetops, especially sloths, robust capuchin monkeys and gray woolly monkeys. And with the massive felling of trees and the burning of tropical forests in the region, these prey become scarce and the harpies cannot find anything to eat or feed their young. A recent study, carried out by researcher Everton Miranda, says that the deforestation of the habitat of these birds exceeds 50% and the chicks are led to starvation, as the harpy chicks only receive food twice a month before coming to death. It was discovered that, despite the reduction in possible prey, these eagles were unable to change their diet and continued to search, without success, for the same mammals that previously lived in the treetops. Furthermore, alternative prey that exist in deforested areas are not suitable for feeding the chicks.
Scientists who have been studying the effects of deforestation in Amazonian biodiversity for decades agree that primates and sloths that still live in the forests are too small to meet the harpy's diet demands, as each adult consumes 800 grams of meat per day and feeding rates have decreased substantially with the loss of forests. It was also discovered that in parts of the forest where deforestation exceeded 70%, eagles could not even nest. The research authors conclude that, as breeding harpies depend on specific foods and rarely hunt in deforested areas, their survival depends on forest conservation.
The situation is of extreme emergency, since, in 2020 alone, around 11,088 kilometers of forest were deforested in the Brazilian Amazon, representing an increase of 95% compared to the previous year. Miranda's research confirms that the interruption of the cutting of trees is urgent, as well as the supply of controlled food for the young in areas where deforestation has already affected more than 50% of the forest; it is a plea for the government to control and prevent the illegal deforestation, in order to avoid the extinction of the biggest living eagle in the world.
REFERENCES
BONILLA, Juan. As maiores águias do mundo estão morrendo de fome por causa do desmatamento na Amazônia. El País, Bogotá, 30, junho. 2021. Disponível em: https://brasil.elpais.com/ciencia/2021-06-30/as-maiores-aguias-do-mundo-estao-morrendo-de-fome-p or-causa-do-desmatamento-na-amazonia.html?rel=mas. Acesso em: 26 de outubro de 2021.
Revista Pesquisa Fapesp. O desmatamento e a fome das harpias. Edição 306, agosto. 2021. Disponível em: https://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/o-desmatamento-e-a-fome-das-harpias/. Acesso em: 26 de Outubro de 2021.
SILVA, Francisca Helena Aguiar et al. Dieta do gavião-real Harpia harpyja (Aves: Accipitridae) em florestas de terra firme de Parintins, Amazonas, Brasil. 2007.