A Philippine eagle, considered one of the world's endangered species, has been shot dead.

The two-year-old female Philippine eagle was captured last May 2010 by a farmer when it tried to prey on his puppy. He handed the bruised bird to a conservation group who call themselves The Philippine Eagle Foundation, which nursed it back to health and released it back into the wild tagged with a transmitter.

However last month, the group found the said Philippine eagle in a forest at the southern island of Mindanao dead with a bullet embedded in its body.

Dennis Salvador, head of the Philippine Eagle Foundation, warned that the species could become extinct within 20 years if incident like this will go on.

“Even with all our hard work, if there is just one guy with a gun who decides to shoot the bird, he can undo everything,” he said.

According to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, the Philippine Eagle which is also the country’s national bird is under the “critically endangered” category because around only 670 of them are left.

Cross-published in Pinoy Power