Harpy Eagle Research Articles

A reference genome for the Harpy Eagle reveals steady demographic decline and chromosomal rearrangements in the origin of Accipitriformes

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is an iconic species that inhabits forested landscapes in Neotropical regions, with decreasing population trends mainly due to habitat loss, and currently classified as vulnerable. Here, we report on a chromosome-scale genome assembly for a female individual combining long reads, optical mapping, and chromatin conformation capture reads. The final assembly spans 1.35 Gb, with N50scaffold equal to 58.1 Mb and BUSCO completeness of 99.7%. We built the first extensive transposable element (TE) library for the Accipitridae to date and identified 7,228 intact TEs. We found a burst of an unknown TE ~ 13–22 million years ago (MYA), coincident with the split of the Harpy Eagle from other Harpiinae eagles. We also report a burst of solo-LTRs and CR1 retrotransposons ~ 31–33 MYA, overlapping with the split of the ancestor to all Harpiinae from other Accipitridae subfamilies. Comparative genomics with other Accipitridae, the closely related Cathartidae and Galloanserae revealed major chromosome-level rearrangements at the basal Accipitriformes genome, in contrast to a conserved ancient genome architecture for the latter two groups. A historical demography reconstruction showed a rapid decline in effective population size over the last 20,000 years. This reference genome serves as a crucial resource for future conservation efforts towards the Harpy Eagle.

Acoustic recognition of predators by mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata): A playback experiment with naïve and experienced subjects.

When the production of antipredator behaviors is costly, prey is expected to stop displaying such behaviors and lose the ability to recognize extirpated predators. However, the loss or maintenance of predator recognition abilities is conditional on the eco-evolutionary context of prey. Here, we examined the behavioral responses of naïve and experienced mantled howler monkeys (Alouatta palliata) to simulated acoustic cues from natural predators. We studied experienced individuals in the Uxpanapa Valley and naïve individuals in Los Tuxtlas (Veracruz, México). Jaguars (Panthera onca) and harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja), the main predators of howler monkeys, are extant in the Uxpanapa Valley but have been extirpated in Los Tuxtlas for approximately 70 and 45 years, respectively. We exposed six naïve and six experienced groups to playbacks of acoustic stimuli from the two predators and a non-predator control species (plain chachalacas, Ortalis vetula), and recorded the latency, frequency, and duration of antipredation behaviors (n = 127 trials). In contrast with experienced mantled howler monkeys, naïve subjects did not respond to trials from harpy eagles. However, response patterns were generally similar between naïve and experienced individuals when exposed to jaguar stimuli. Our findings suggest that naïve mantled howler monkeys do not recognize harpy eagle calls, but they respond to jaguar calls in a manner consistent with experienced individuals. These results illustrate how different mechanisms for the recognition of extirpated predators operate within a single species according to evolutionary and ecological experience.

Harpy eagle kill sample provides insights into the mandibular ontogenetic patterns of two-toed sloths (Xenarthra: Choloepus)

Abstract Skeletal ontogeny of xenarthrans is poorly known, especially because of the paucity of study specimens from distinct developmental stages. Here, we investigate morphometric aspects of the mandible ontogeny in the two-toed sloths, Choloepus spp. We examined mandibles of infant, juveniles and subadult sloths that were present in kill assemblages of harpy eagles, Harpia harpyja, and complemented our study with adult museum specimens. We carried out uni- and multivariate linear morphometric analyzes to assess the growth pattern of the mandible. Harpy eagles did not prey on adult two-toed sloths, preferring younger individuals. We found an overall strong correlation between the total length of the mandible and other mandibular measurements across age classes, with some of them scaling isometrically, and others presenting allometric growth. Also, morphometric data correlated with patterns of symphysial fusion across ontogenetic stages, rendering the latter a reliable indicator of the animal’s age category. Although it was necessary to complement our sample with museum material, individuals obtained from the harpy eagle kill assemblage proved to be a valuable complementary source of specimens to be studied.

How to Eat Spiny Food? Predation by Bird of Prey on Thin-Spined Porcupine, Chaetomys subspinosus (Olfers, 1818)

Chaetomys subspinosus is an arboreal, cryptic, medium-sized porcupine. This species has the body densely covered by spines thinner and softer than those of other genera of Neotropical porcupines. Its known natural predators are big cats and harpy eagle, while other mammalian carnivores and large birds of prey in general are cited as potential predators. Here I report a new event of predation by bird of prey on Chaetomys subspinosus in the northern Espírito Santo state, southeastern Atlantic Forest. The predator removed the stomach and intestine of the prey, as well as the spines of its head and the ventral portion of the body. Although it was not possible to identify the predator precisely, it was a medium to large-sized bird of prey, probably a hawk or a hawk-eagle (Family Accipitridae). The presented data contributes information to the natural history of Chaetomys subspinosus, representing one of the first records of predation on this porcupine species by a bird of prey.

Deep learning framework for real-time face recognition using multimodal facial expression with feature optimization and hybrid classification

Smile detection plays key role in recognizing human facial expressions, especially in inter-personal relations. In modern biometrics and security applications, face recognition is widely used. In real-life applications, automated face recognition has always been challenging because people express themselves differently. Real-world scenarios present many challenges, such as low-quality images, temporal variations, and disguises that alter facial characteristics. Face recognition has been accomplished using deep learning frameworks, but there are still several challenges to overcome, such as expression variations and lack of training data. In these methods, margins are used to enforce intra-class compactness and inter-class discrepancy to prevent overfitting. Multimodal facial expression detection is used for real-time face recognition to solve the aforementioned problems. First, we utilizes the Prewitt edge detector for eyes, nose, mouth, and brow detection, and design a deep transfer learning model to extract deep features from face images. Next, feature optimization is done by harpy eagle search optimization (HESO) to selects optimal best among multiple features which reduce data dimensionality problem. Then, we employ a semi-region based convolutional neural network (SR-CNN) to analyzes the facial expressions from multimodalities such as eyes (blinking), nose (shapes), mouth (smiling), and brow (shapes). The analyzed facial expressions and corresponding input images are fed into the benchmark SVM classifier for face recognition. The facial expression based face recognition framework is most suited for real-time scenario like video surveillance. Finally, we validate the performance our framework using benchmark multi-modal Cohn-Kanade and real-time 5671 person images datasets. The simulation results show that the proposed framework can effectively suppress data dimensionality issues and achieve high recognition rate compare to state-of-art frameworks.

Long-term female bias in sex ratios across life stages of Harpy Eagle, a large raptor exhibiting reverse sexual size dimorphism.

The primary (PSR), secondary (SSR) and adult (ASR) sex ratios of sexually reproducing organisms influence their life histories. Species exhibiting reversed sexual size dimorphism (RSD) may imply a higher cost of female production or lower female survival, thus generating biases in PSR, SSR and/or ASR towards males. The Harpy Eagle is the world's largest eagle exhibiting RSD. This species is found in the Neotropical region and is currently threatened with extinction. We used molecular markers to determine the sex of 309 Harpy Eagles spanning different life stages-eaglets, subadults and adults-from 1904 to 2021 within the Amazon Rainforest and Atlantic Forest. Sex ratios for all life stages revealed a female-biased deviation across all periods and regions. Our results suggest that the population bias towards females is an evolutionary ecological pattern of this species, and SSR and ASR likely emerged from the PSR. This natural bias towards females may be compensated by an earlier sexual maturation age of males, implying a longer reproductive lifespan and a higher proportion of sexually active males. A better understanding of the Harpy Eagle's life history can contribute to understanding sex-role evolution and enable more appropriate conservation strategies for the species.

The prey of the Harpy Eagle in its last reproductive refuges in the Atlantic Forest

The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is threatened with extinction throughout its distribution in the neotropical forests. In the Atlantic Forest, deforestation has reduced the number of suitable habitats, with only a few remnant forest fragments hosting active nests; currently, the only known nests in this region are in the Central Atlantic Forest Ecological Corridor (CAFEC), in Brazil. Little is known about Harpy Eagle diets in this region, despite this information being essential for developing effective conservation strategies. We classified the composition, frequency, richness, ecological attributes, and conservation status of the species that make up the Harpy Eagle’s diet in its last refuges in the CAFEC. Between 2017 and 2021, we collected and analyzed 152 prey remains and 285 camera trap photographs from seven active nests. We identified at least 16 mammal species (96.7%), one parrot and other bird remains (3.3%). The Harpy Eagle’s diet consisted mainly of medium-sized arboreal, folivorous, frugivorous, and diurnal mammals. Five prey species are currently threatened with extinction at global, six at national and seven at regional levels. The majority of the diet consists of Sapajus robustus, which is threatened, and Bradypus variegatus, which is not threatened. In addition to the effects of habitat loss and hunting, the Harpy Eagle may also suffer from the decline in the populations of their prey in the Atlantic Forest.

Taphonomy of harpy eagle predation on primates and other mammals.

The goal of this study is to provide a taphonomic analysis of bone fragments found in harpy eagle nests in the Brazilian Amazonia, utilizing the largest sample of prey remains collected to date. Harpy eagle kill samples were collected from nine nests, between June 2016 and December 2020 in Mato Grosso, Brazil. We identified the specimens, calculated the number of identified specimens (NISP) and minimum number of individuals (MNI). These metrics were used to estimate bone survivability and fragmentation. A total of 1661 specimens (NISP) were collected, representing a minimum number of 234 individuals (MNI). We identified at least nine species of primates, which represent 63.8% of the individuals in the kill sample. Harpy eagles preyed mostly on the medium-sized capuchin and bearded saki monkeys (28.2% of the MNI), and two-toed sloths (17.7% of the MNI). The large woolly monkeys also represented a significant portion of the sample (11.5% of the MNI). Three distinct patterns of bone survivability were found, one characterizing two-toed sloths, another characterizing medium-sized monkeys, and a third typical of woolly monkeys. We conclude that harpy eagle predation leaves an identifiable signature on the prey with a bone survivability pattern specific to each taxon. The intertaxon variations observed in the taphonomic signatures of harpy eagle kills should be taken into account when evaluating the potential influence of these raptors as accumulators of bone material in both paleontological and neontological assemblages.

Flying through the forest canopy: Movement patterns and habitat selection of rescued and wild Harpy Eagles in the Brazilian Amazon

We tracked six Harpy Eagles (Harpia harpyja) by satellite telemetry from 2011 to 2021 in the Brazilian Amazonia, analyzing the used area, movements parameters and habitat selection functions for three of them: one adult within its breeding site, one translocated adult, and a four-years old floating subadult. We used the first-passage time to assess the scale at which these individuals respond to the environment, and the behavioral change point analysis to determine behavioral states parameters across trajectories. We fitted a logistic linear regression model with used-available locations and environmental covariates: slope, Terrain Ruggedness Index (TRI), Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), land cover, and habitat edge as predictor variables. Harpy Eagle locations were highly related with “Forest” land cover and high NDVI values. The subadult and the translocated adult selected for “Secondary Forest” within their home ranges, which highlights the importance of this type of habitat in fragmented landscapes. In addition, we found behavioural differences in the movement paths of rehabilitated individuals of Harpy Eagle that are subsequently released to the wild. In conclusion, we suggest including in conservation management not only the nest tree and its immediately surrounding but also an area over landscape scale to optimize and promote the functional connectivity, with a safe and efficient dispersion of immatures. Linking Harpy Eagle´s movement locations to resources (land cover, NDVI), risks (forested habitat edge) and environmental conditions (slope, terrain ruggedness) is an opportunity to learn about habitat selection by this large canopy predator. The Harpy Eagle movement ecology has a potential relationship with the spatial dynamics of prey in the forest canopy, which needs to be further addressed in future research.

Optimal Multisecret Image Sharing Using Lightweight Visual Sign-Cryptography Scheme With Optimal Key Generation for Gray/Color Images

Problem: Digital devices are becoming increasingly powerful and smart, which is improving quality of life, but presents new challenges to privacy protection. Visual cryptographic schemes provide data sharing privacy, but have drawbacks such as extra storage space, lossy secret images, and the need to store permutation keys. Aim: This paper proposes a light-weight visual sign-cryptography scheme based on optimal key generation to address the disadvantages of existing visual cryptographic schemes and improve the security, sharing quality, and time consumption of multisecret images. Methods: The proposed light-weight visual sign-cryptography (LW-VSC) scheme consists of three processes: band separation, shares generation, and signcryption/un-signcryption. The process of separation and shares generation is done by an existing method. The multiple shares of the secret images are then encrypted/decrypted using light-weight sign-cryptography. The proposed scheme uses a novel harpy eagle search optimization (HESO) algorithm to generate optimal keys for both the encrypt/decrypt processes. Results: Simulation results and comparative analysis showed the proposed scheme is more secure and requires less storage space, with faster encryption/decryption and improved key generation quality. Conclusion: The proposed light-weight visual sign-cryptography scheme based on optimal key generation is a promising approach to enhance security and improve data sharing quality. The HESO algorithm shows promise in improving the quality of key generation, providing better privacy protection in the face of increasingly powerful digital devices.

Multi‐scale habitat overlap in two broad‐ranged sympatric Neotropical forest eagles reveals shared environmental space and habitat use

Quantifying resource partitioning between co‐occurring species can provide insight into processes facilitating coexistence by closely related species, a fundamental question in ecology. We tested whether the habitat requirements of two closely related Neotropical forest eagles, the Crested Eagle Morphnus guianensis and Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja, differ at fine and coarse resolutions across their shared geographical range. Using landcover and topographical covariates, we quantified potential resource overlap first using higher resolution (30 arc‐s, ~ 1‐km2 data) generalized linear models (GLMs), and secondly using coarser‐grain (2.5 arc‐min, ~ 4.5‐km2 data) environmental ordination to capture the potential effect of scale on habitat overlap. The distribution of both eagles was largely explained by canopy tree species richness and canopy structural complexity, with peak suitability of 60–80% evergreen forest cover. Both eagles were negatively associated with mosaic forest and cultivated areas. From the GLMs, habitat overlap was >93% in geographical space but was reduced to 73% when considering environmental space, a proxy for resource overlap. From ordination (principal component analysis), resource overlap was 67% in environmental space, with randomization tests supporting equivalent environmental space for both eagles. Our results suggest that at the continental scale, Crested and Harpy Eagles share identical environmental space when quantified at fine and broad scales, with little difference in distribution and habitat use. At the continental scale used here, both eagles can coexist, presumably with sufficient habitat heterogeneity for coexistence when they occur in close proximity. Therefore, further research is required at the local level to capture fully where coexistence at the local scale is facilitated more by fine‐scale habitat selection, or difference in diet between two species with indistinguishable habitat use.

Harpy Eagles Concentrate Precious Nutrients in the Amazon

Amazon soils are usually low in the nutrients that plants covet, but harpy eagles can create local hot spots with their poop and prey.

Long-term concentration of tropical forest nutrient hotspots is generated by a central-place apex predator

Apex predators typically affect the distribution of key soil and vegetation nutrients through the heterogeneous deposition of prey carcasses and excreta, leading to a nutrient concentration in a hotspot. The exact role of central-place foragers, such as tropical raptors, in nutrient deposition and cycling, is not yet known. We investigated whether harpy eagles (Harpia harpyja) in Amazonian Forests—a typically low soil fertility ecosystem—affect soil nutrient profiles and the phytochemistry around their nest-trees through cumulative deposition of prey carcasses and excreta. Nest-trees occurred at densities of 1.5–5.0/100 km2, and each nest received ~ 102.3 kg of undressed carcasses each year. Effects of nests were surprisingly negative over local soil nutrient profiles, with soils underneath nest-trees showing reductions in nutrients compared with controls. Conversely, canopy tree leaves around nests showed significant 99%, 154% and 50% increases in nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, respectively. Harpy eagles have experienced a 41% decline in their range, and many raptor species are becoming locally extirpated. These are general examples of disruption in biogeochemical cycles and nutrient heterogeneity caused by population declines in a central-place apex predator. This form of carrion deposition is by no means an exception since several large raptors have similar habits.

Ecological drivers of breeding periodicity in four forest neotropical eagles

We explore the potential factors that affect clutch initiation in four Neotropical large raptors (Harpy eagle—HE, Crested eagle—CE, Ornate hawk-eagle—OHE, and Black hawk-eagle—BHE) by analyzing 414 clutch events mostly obtained from captive individuals. Differences in how clutch initiation is associated with changes in photoperiod were found between HE and both hawk-eagles, and between CE and BHE. Changes in temperature at the time of clutch initiation only differed between HE and OHE, whereas changes in precipitation varied between BHE and all other species. Principal Component Analysis of these environmental cues showed that ellipses in the dataset of each species overlap, but only ellipses from CE and OHE had the same variation trends. This means that although these species live under similar ecological conditions, they exhibit three different patterns of response to environmental cues. Apparently, these patterns are not associated with phylogenetic relatedness because species belonging to the same clade do not show the same response pattern. Diet diversity analysis revealed that HE has the least varied diet, and CE and OHE the most varied diet. The fact that species who fit the same reproductive timing response to environmental cues show similar diets leads us to hypothesize that breeding in these eagles was most likely shaped by food availability.

Prey resources are equally important as climatic conditions for predicting the distribution of a broad‐ranged apex predator

AbstractAimA current biogeographic paradigm states that climate regulates species distributions at continental scales and that biotic interactions are undetectable at coarse‐grain extents. However, advances in spatial modelling show that incorporating food resource distributions are important for improving model predictions at large distribution scales. This is particularly relevant to understand the factors limiting the distribution of widespread apex predators whose diets are likely to vary across their range.LocationNeotropical Central and South America.MethodsThe harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a large raptor, whose diet is largely comprised of arboreal mammals, all with broad distributions across Neotropical lowland forest. Here, we used a hierarchical modelling approach to determine the relative importance of abiotic factors and prey resource distribution on harpy eagle range limits. Our hierarchical approach consisted of the following modelling sequence of explanatory variables: (a) abiotic covariates, (b) prey resource distributions predicted by an equivalent modelling for each prey, (c) the combination of (a) and (b), and (d) as in (c) but with prey resources considered as a single prediction equivalent to prey species richness.ResultsIncorporating prey distributions improved model predictions but using solely biotic covariates still resulted in a high‐performing model. In the Abiotic model, Climatic Moisture Index (CMI) was the most important predictor, contributing 76% to model prediction. Three‐toed sloth (Bradypus spp.) was the most important prey resource, contributing 64% in a combined Abiotic‐Biotic model, followed by CMI contributing 30%. Harpy eagle distribution had high environmental overlap across all individual prey distributions, with highest coincidence through Central America, eastern Colombia, and across the Guiana Shield into northern Amazonia.Main ConclusionsWith strong reliance on prey distributions across its range, harpy eagle conservation programmes must therefore consider its most important food resources as a key element in the protection of this threatened raptor.

Dispersal and Space Use of Captive-Reared and Wild-Rehabilitated Harpy Eagles Released in Central American Landscapes: Implications for Reintroduction and Reinforcement Management

Understanding the spatial context of animal movements is fundamental for the establishment and management of protected areas. We tracked, by telemetry devices, 31 captive-reared and 5 wild-rehabilitated Harpia harpyja and estimated the dispersal and space use after release in Mesoamerica. We evaluated the effectiveness of protected areas in the protection of home ranges and examined how individual traits, release methods and landscape features influenced the dispersal and home range using mixed-effects models. The mean post-release dispersal was 29.4 km (95% CI: 22.5–38.5), and the annual home ranges averaged 1039.5 km2 (95% CI: 627–1941). The home ranges were influenced by the release method, patch richness, patch and edge density and contagion. The currently protected areas in Mesoamerica may not be effective conservation units for this species. The Harpy Eagle average home range greatly exceeded the average size of 1115 terrestrial protected areas (52.7 ± 6.1 km2) in Mesoamerica. Due to their wide use of space, including transboundary space, Harpy Eagle conservation efforts may fail if they are not carefully coordinated between the countries involved. Future restoration efforts of umbrella forest-dwelling raptors should select release sites with highly aggregated and poorly interspersed forests. The release sites should have a buffer of approximately 30 km and should be located completely within protected areas.

Range-wide habitat use of the Harpy Eagle indicates four major tropical forest gaps in the Key Biodiversity Area network

Abstract Quantifying habitat use is important for understanding how animals meet their requirements for survival and provides information for conservation planning. Currently, assessments of range-wide habitat use that delimit species distributions are incomplete for many taxa. The Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) is a raptor of conservation concern, widely distributed across Neotropical lowland forests, that currently faces threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Here, we use penalized logistic regression to identify species-habitat associations and predict habitat suitability based on a new International Union for the Conservation of Nature range metric, termed Area of Habitat. From the species-habitat model, we performed a gap analysis to identify areas of high habitat suitability in regions with limited coverage in the key biodiversity area (KBA) network. Range-wide habitat use indicated that Harpy Eagles prefer areas of 70%–75% evergreen forest cover, low elevation, and high vegetation species richness. Conversely, Harpy Eagles avoid areas of >10% cultivated landcover and mosaic forest, and topographically complex areas. Our species-habitat model identified a large continuous area of potential habitat across the pan-Amazonia region, and a habitat corridor from the Chocó-Darién ecoregion of Colombia running north along the Caribbean coast of Central America. Little habitat was predicted across the Atlantic Forest biome, which is now severely degraded. The current KBA network covered 18% of medium to high Harpy Eagle habitat exceeding a target biodiversity area representation of 10%, based on species range size. Four major areas of high suitability habitat lacking coverage in the KBA network were identified in north and west Colombia, western Guyana, and north-west Brazil. We recommend these multiple gaps of habitat as new KBAs for strengthening the current KBA network. Modeled area of habitat estimates as described here is a useful tool for large-scale conservation planning and can be readily applied to many taxa.

Toward scoping reviews of individual bird species

Scoping reviews, in which the literature on a given topic is systematically collated and summarized, aid literature searches and highlight knowledge gaps on a given topic, thus hastening scientific progress and informing conservation efforts. Because much research and conservation is targeted at the species level, ornithology and bird conservation would benefit from scoping reviews of individual species. We present and apply a framework for scoping reviews for three disparate raptor species: California Condor Gymnogyps californianus, Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja and Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus. We consulted expert panels to develop appropriate search strings and lists of essential literature, i.e. ‘benchmark articles’. We searched Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar. Searches for California Condor, Harpy Eagle and Gyrfalcon returned 268, 138 and 343 articles, respectively, that discuss, review or collect empirical data for the focal species. Our searches returned all benchmark articles identified by species experts, indicating that the searches captured the most important work on each species. We coded each study according to the topic addressed, country and month in which data were collected. We also coded threats, stresses and conservation actions addressed by studies, following definitions used by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) during Red List assessments. Literature summaries for each species include the number of studies addressing certain topics, monthly timing of research and global maps of research focus. Our coding scheme revealed important knowledge gaps for each species. Effects of conservation actions on wild individuals were less studied for California Condors. Harpy Eagles were less studied outside of Brazil and Panama, and Gyrfalcons were less studied outside of their breeding season. Scoping reviews of the world's bird species would help to identify critical knowledge gaps, thereby aiding the global effort to assuage the sixth mass extinction.

Reduced range size and Important Bird and Biodiversity Area coverage for the Harpy Eagle (Harpia harpyja) predicted from multiple climate change scenarios

Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on species distributions, contracting suitable climate space. Biodiversity areas are important to mitigate these negative effects but are static by design and thus do not account for future projections of species distributions. The Harpy Eagle Harpia harpyja has a broad range across lowland Neotropical forests and thus its distribution could be negatively affected by climate change when combined with current rates of habitat loss. To test this hypothesis, we use spatial point process models fitted with climatic, topographical and landcover covariates to identify the current distribution. We then project to 24 future climate scenarios, using three General Circulation Models (GCMs) and two emission scenarios between the years 2021 and 2100 averaged over four, 20‐year periods. Our current model identified a core range across Amazonia and the Guiana Shield, with evergreen forest (71%), mean diurnal temperature range (13%) and elevation (6%) the most important predictors. Reclassifying the current model to a binary prediction estimated a range size of ~ 7.6 million km2, with the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) network covering 18% of habitat (~ 1.4 million km2) within this range. By 2090, range size was predicted to decrease on average by 14.4% under a higher emissions scenario, and 7.3% under a lower emissions scenario. The IBA network would cover 14% less area under a higher emissions scenario, and 3.3% less distribution area under a lower emissions scenario by 2090. Southern Amazonia is predicted to have the greatest reduction in range size and subsequently highest loss of Harpy Eagle habitat within the IBA network. Our work demonstrates that the combination of climate change and subsequent habitat loss may result in substantial losses in distribution for this raptor across the southern edge of its range.

Ex situ population of the Harpy Eagle and its potential for integrated conservation.

A main priority in conservation is the protection of species in their natural habitat. However, ex situ management of threatened species is a recognised strategy of conservation. Harpy Eagles (Harpiaharpyja) are removed from the wild due to illegal capture, nest tree destruction, or other conflict sources. This study presents a review of the current ex situ Harpy Eagle populations in Brazil and worldwide, including information on the origin, sex, and year of entrance or year of birth under human care. Worldwide, until 2020 there were 205 Harpy Eagles in 77 different facilities in 16 countries, with 40 institutions in Brazil and 37 in other countries. The largest ex situ Harpy Eagle population is maintained in Brazil, with 139 individuals (75 females and 64 males) in 40 institutions. Of these institutions, there were 24 zoos, seven conservation breeding centres, six commercial breeders, two wildlife shelters, and one wildlife sorting centre. In Brazil, 62% (n = 86) of the individuals were hatched in the wild and 38% (n = 53) were bred in captivity under human care; for the wild individuals, only 73% (n = 64) have a known state of origin, with the majority from Pará state. This investigation provided relevant information to establish an ex situ demographic database. These individuals may potentially constitute a genetically and demographically viable safety population for future conservation strategies, as well as a source for research and education applied to Harpy Eagle integrated conservation.