This is considered a major success. In 2001, 17 chicks hatched in captivity, 2002 and 2003 produced 14 more -- figures that surpass what had been achieved by scientists in the United States, another country attempting to rescue this bird of prey.

Seven harpies have hatched in captivity in the United States, but over a period of 10 years.

However, despite the successes, a great deal is yet to be done to ensure the future of the harpy, which is endangered, like hundreds of bird species in Latin America and the Caribbean.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme, there are more than 400 kinds of birds in the region that are classified as ''vulnerable'', ''endangered'', and ''gravely endangered''. The harpy eagle is one of them.

This bird of prey can stand more than a meter tall, with a wingspan of more than two meters, and weigh around eight kilos. According to National Geographic magazine, the early European explorers of South America named harpy eagles after the predatory half-woman, half-bird of Greek myth.

In the region there are more than 300 mammals that are threatened to different degrees, in addition to more than 150 types of fish, more than 100 reptiles and some 30 amphibians. The biggest numbers of endangered species are found in the countries with greatest biodiversity: Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.

What has been achieved with the harpy eagle is important, but it will be 20 to 25 years before it can be known whether the rescue project has achieved its goal, Magali Linares, director of the Peregrine Fund, which operates with the support of U.S. scientists and donors, told Tierramérica.

By 2006, it will be known whether the first five birds released have found mates and reproduced. The scientists then will determine how long the harpy's reproductive life lasts, calculate its mortality rate, continue the release program and finally distribute the birds throughout Mesoamerica (Mexico and Central America), the ideal habitat for this species.

''Our project is unprecedented in Latin America. Venezuela and Ecuador have shown interest in harpy eagle reproduction, but they have not yet carried out this type of program,'' said Linares.

The goal of the Peregrine Fund is for the species' full recovery in Panama, then in Belize, and ultimately in the greater part of the Mesoamerican region.

This large bird of prey, which despite its size generally tries to pass unnoticed, finds the humid tropical forest, up to altitudes of 800 meters above sea level, to be its ideal habitat. The harpy's diet includes monkeys, sloths, parrots and certain reptiles found in the tropical rainforest canopy.

The bird is threatened with extinction, but some can still be found in Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Peru and Venezuela.

In Panama, where the government declared the harpy eagle its national bird in 2002, there are fewer than 50 harpy nests. But that number will surely grow with the release of birds hatched in captivity once they are three years old.

''We are going to continue working for the harpy eagle,'' but the future of this species will also depend on rescue and conservation efforts in other countries and on a reduction of environmental pressures in the harpy habitat, said Linares.

* Diego Cevallos is an IPS correspondent. Originally published Oct. 2 by Latin American newspapers that are part of the Tierramérica network. Tierramérica is a specialised news service produced by IPS with the backing of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Environment Programme.)