Harpy+Eagles+in+Belize-+Aaditi

=Harpy Eagles in Belize= Aaditi Diwan 3B

At this lecture, Dr, Rotenberg from UNCW talked about his trip to Belize and research that he conducted from observing these eagles. In 2000, the Harpy Eagles were considered extinct in the wild in Belize but they made a comeback. These eagles have also encouraged natives to be aware and protect them rather than hunting these birds. Dr. Rotenberg said that the reason that they were in Belize was because these is less human pressure and because they live in an undisturbed rain forest (any human disturbance such as hunting or clear cutting could cause the decline of these eagles). The Harpy Eagle usually eats sloths, but since there are no sloths in Belize it was odd to find these birds in that area. Instead, in Belize, the eagles eat monkeys, opossums, coatimundis, and lots of snails.

This relates to environmental science because in class we talked about human impact on environments and food chains which was also mentioned in Dr. Rotenberg's lecture. Harpy eagles are tertiary consumers that eat secondary consumers such as monkeys and opossums. Also human impact from hunting and deforestation causes the Harpy eagle population to decline because of their loss in habitat and their lack of quick reproduction. This also reduces the biodiversity in the area.