The monkey-eating eagle in "Black Cat Sheriff" really exists
Clip of "Black Cat Sheriff"
It is said that in the childhood classic cartoon "Black Cat Sheriff", there is a huge white eagle, which is a villain, and in the animation, this white eagle can eat a small monkey in one bite, just like eating cookies, it looks very cruel, and this scene is also the "childhood shadow" of many children
Clip of "Black Cat Sheriff"
So does this white eagle, which can only eat monkeys, really exist in this world? Some friends may think that cartoons must be some exaggerated ingredients, how can a bird eat a monkey? Or how big is the world? Today, let's take a look at one of the three birds of prey known as the "air tiger" - the ape eagle
Ape-eating eagle
Birds of prey in the air with large backs, even tigers are not afraid
Like the foot eagle and the Guanyin eagle that we are familiar with, they are very fierce birds, and even raccoons and monkeys are their food, and the strength of the ape eagle that ranks closely after these two "big brothers" is naturally not bad.
Foot carving
The ape eagle looks at the appearance alone, combing a big back every day, a reddish-brown feather, plus very sharp eyes, and a huge beak, no matter how you look at it, it has the taste of the "boss" on the beach. And its feathers are really interesting, in general, the bird feathers we see are drooping down the body, the ape eagle this guy is different, "fried feathers" is it, because when it is angry, the feathers will really stand upright, other animals do not say, the ape eagle is really done as it is, high unhappiness is all written on the feathers.
Erected feathers
It is said that it is a "tiger in the air", so is it really as fierce as a tiger?
Let's look at the figure first, the ape eagle as a giant bird of prey, nearly one meter tall, two majestic wings spread to 2.5 meters long, weight is about six or seven kilograms. In the case of tigers, let's take the smallest Sumatran tiger, which weighs about 120 kilograms, which is not at all the opponent of ape eagles! It doesn't matter, the big one can't afford to mess with, and the bully is still not believed? A tiger cub is about 35~50 pounds, this small physique is not a problem for ape eagles, and it is also very common to occasionally provoke tigers in a good mood.
Cubs
Even tigers can provoke, other small animals are not a word, if nothing else, at least you have to be worthy of your name! "Ape-eating eagle" literally means an eagle that eats monkeys!
Eat monkeys raw and offal alive
Don't say, it's really not an exaggeration in the cartoon, it can really eat a whole monkey! However, this modus operandi can be said to be extremely cruel. If a primate is unfortunate enough to be the target of the ape eagle, then you must be careful with your side and back, because this guy is always like the "assassin", unknowingly appearing next to you, and then poking the eyes of the prey blind, grabbing the prey with huge claws, so that it has nowhere to escape, and then using the extremely sharp beak to give the prey a "rebirth", peeling off the skin and flesh, and directly gnawing raw. This scene is really full of blood to think about, and goosebumps are rising.
Catch monkeys
But monkeys are just a staple food for ape eagles, sometimes if you are in a good mood, you may catch some lizards, bats or something, just add a side dish, if you live not far from the habitat of ape eagles, you must look at your own cats and dogs and domestic animals, these small animals are likely to be taken away by this "gluttonous ghost".
Not only is it unfriendly to small animals, but in fact, sometimes it has a bad temper for the same kind. This guy's sense of territory is very strong, basically each ape eagle has a territory of 30~50 square kilometers, that is to say, no birds are allowed to appear in this range, if any small partner visits rashly, then sorry, even the same kind is inevitable to compete.
"Big brother" is only gentle to one, love in the animal world
Even if you look fierce, your temper is still smelly and bad, you will fry your hair if you are not happy, you are not afraid of the sky, just such a ruthless character who is not easy to mess with, will there be a good temper in addition to yourself? Don't say, people really have it, and they give it all their tenderness, that is, the companion of the ape eagle.
The nest of the ape eagle
Unexpectedly, such a domineering air raptor turned out to be loyal to love! As the saying goes, "in heaven's wish to be a winged bird", ape eagles also strictly follow the "monogamy" system, and believe that each other, will really walk hand in hand for a lifetime, they can be said to be extremely loyal in love, no betrayal. Build nests together, conceive and raise cubs together.
Ape-eating eagle cubs
But they are not as lucky as other birds, producing three or four cubs at a time, and most of the time they can only give birth to a small ape eagle. The upbringing of children is also a problem for them, and it takes two full years for each cub to survive independently from birth, during which the parents pay almost all their attention to the child. During the period of upbringing, they are even more conscientious as parents. Every time food is caught, or water is brought, it is fed to the child himself, and the cubs only need to obediently wait in the nest for their parents to return. It can be said that each small food ape eagle is the pearl in the palm of its parents.
But will the child survive these two years safely and smoothly? You may not know that animal cubs in nature may be targeted by more powerful enemies at any time, and the same ape eagles cannot escape such a fate, so many times the survival rate of cubs is not high, and the reproductive rate is very low, which directly limits the population number for its own reasons.
"National treasures" will also be endangered, and the Philippines is in action
In terms of reproductive capacity, they do not compete with each other, and the habitat is easily destroyed. Unlike most animals, the home of ape eating eagles is not vast, and even can only be stooped on some small islands in the Philippines, Mindanao is one of them, which is less than 95,000 square kilometers, coupled with the continuous expansion of human activities on the island, the felling of trees, and the establishment of many infrastructures, there are few environments that are truly suitable for ape eagles. In 1894, a naturalist from the United Kingdom came to the Philippines and went to a tropical jungle called Samar Island and found this monkey-eating bird. Through continuous observation and research of this bird, it was finally named the ape-eating eagle.
By 1960, the ape eagle was listed as endangered by the Red Book of Species, and at this time industrialization and urbanization continued to develop, the rainforest suitable for the survival of the ape eagle continued to decrease, and the natural habitat was almost lost, and the number of ape eagles plummeted from 6,000 to more than 300. It was not until 1995 that Proclamation No. 615, signed by former Philippine President Fidel Ramos, recognized the ape-eating eagle as the national bird of the Philippines. In order to protect the ape eagle, a series of relevant policies have been introduced, if someone is found to illegally kill the ape eagle in the Philippines, then it will face a penalty of 1~5 years.
Even after so many years of slogans to protect endangered animals, the number of ape eagles is still not optimistic, as of 2020 there are only about 500 in the world, but fortunately it is valued as the national bird of the Philippines, at least no one will harm it on Philippine soil now. However, the results of habitat destruction are irreversible, and it is still somewhat difficult to replant trees and restore the natural ecological environment of more than a hundred years ago.
Not just ape eagles, but many animals in the world are gradually endangered due to habitat destruction, and by the time people realize to protect them, it is too late. Just take the animals that live in the same rainforest as the ape eagle, those creatures that are not as well-known as the ape eagle and have a low sense of existence are not a minority, we should not only protect one or several known animals, but also take action to protect the diversity of the earth's species, so that the earth's people and nature can live in more harmony.