Harpy eagles may have their first featured story on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom with the Protecting the Wild Season Two episode, “The Most Powerful Predator in the Sky,” but their history with Wild Kingdom goes way back to the 1950s with original series co-host, Jim Fowler.
Discover how Jim went from researching harpy eagles in the wild to working with Ron Magill, Zoo Miami’s goodwill ambassador and communications director, to designate the harpy eagle as Panama’s national bird.
Early introductions to the harpy eagle
Jim Fowler’s harpy eagle studies in Guyana
Before Jim joined Marlin Perkins to form Wild Kingdom in 1963, he spent time in present-day Guyana studying harpy eagles, South America’s largest bird of prey. From December 1959 to May 1960, Jim and Earlham College Biology Professor James Cope, observed two harpy eagle families in their native habitat. He returned to the sites in 1961 and published “Notes on the Harpy Eagle in British Guiana,” in The Auk, a quarterly journal of ornithology in 1964.
Their research was one of the first formal accounts of harpy eagles. They noted harpy eagle habitat, detailed behavior of wild juvenile and adult eagles and took measurements.
“We made many observations at the nest sites of two families of Harpy Eagles, either from a blind or from other concealment in the immediate vicinity of their nest trees. We took precaution at all times to keep the eagles from being aware of our presence. We think these are among the first detailed observations of Harpy Eagles in their native habitat,” they wrote in The Auk.
Jim later brought three harpy eagles from Guyana to the U.S., showing one off on the “Today” show. Not only would the segment introduce Americans to the bird of prey, but it would also catch the eye of Marlin, who was looking for a co-host for a TV show — Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom.
Ron Magill’s fascination with harpy eagles
Meanwhile, as a child in New York City, Magill enjoyed watching Wild Kingdom. He also spent time visiting the city’s American Museum of Natural History learning about wildlife and our natural world. There, he became fascinated with harpy eagles and dove into research.
“Lo and behold one of the first articles ever written about the harpy eagle was by Jim Fowler,” Magill said. “I started to deep dive and said, ‘Oh my God, this guy Jim Fowler, is not only my hero from watching him on Wild Kingdom, he’s the expert on my favorite animal in the entire planet!’”
Magill and Jim would eventually meet each other in Miami at a Wild Kingdom event, prompting a decades-long friendship.
“It’s almost as if we knew each other for many, many years,” Magill said. “We were like kindred spirits.”
Harpy eagles in Panama
The friendship wasn’t just an opportunity for two people to bond over a love of wildlife, it was a catalyst for change.
Magill visited family in Panama and while there, went to a local zoo that had harpy eagles on display. A pair of large, majestic raptors were in a small cage. It didn’t sit well with Magill.
“It was such a bittersweet moment for me because there’s a pair of harpy eagles in this tiny little chain link cage with horrible, really not even perches,” Magill said. “They appeared to be malnourished.”
He went to the zoo’s director and spoke of the horrible conditions and the need for change. But the director didn’t have money.
“So, I wrote a letter to the Mayor of Panama City, and everybody laughed at me saying, “Hey, what, you think your stupid gringo, you’re going to write this letter to the mayor and you’re going to get any kind of attention from the mayor?’” Magill said.
His letter was convincing, earning him a meeting with the mayor. Although the mayor said she had limited funding to help the eagles, she gave Magill the go-ahead to fundraise to improve the eagles’ lives at the zoo.
The fundraiser caught the attention of Sony Corporation and suddenly, Magill needed to present to the president of Sony.
Fowler, Magill save the harpy eagle together
“So, I called Jim,” Magill said. “I said, Jim, I’m just a zookeeper, but if they see you next to me, they’re all going to know who you are.”
Jim agreed to go to Panama with Magill and present to Sony on one condition: Magill would do all the talking.
It paid off. Sony donated $250,000 to kickstart the project.
Together, Magill and Jim worked with Zoo Miami to design and build Harpy Eagle Center at Summit Municipal Park. The work wasn’t done, however.
Magill spoke in front of the Panamanian Congress and on April 10, 2002, the harpy eagle was named the national bird of Panama.
“Now when you go to Panama, the harpy eagle is everywhere,” Magill said. “The minute you get off a plane at the airport, you see these huge billboards. There are dioramas of eagles everywhere and the badges of all the police departments were changed to have harpy eagles on top.”
Magill says he couldn’t have done it without Jim.
“He guided me and was always behind me, always pushing me to do this project that resulted in changing an entire culture of a country for a bird that we both love beyond belief,” Magill said.
Harpy eagles on Protecting the Wild
In the Season Two episode, Magill joins Protecting the Wild Co-Host Peter Gros to talk about harpy eagles at Zoo Miami. The zoo is the only one in the country with a breeding pair of harpy eagles.
“We did a whole segment to talk about the harpy eagle itself to talk about my adventures with Jim in Panama and to share memories of Jim what an inspiration he was to both of us and how he really laid down the foundation not just for what we do, but really for all the television presenters you see today,” Magill said.
And back in Panama, Co-Host Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant saw Magill and Jim’s continued legacy. She visited Summit Municipal Park and met a harpy eagle, aptly named “Panama.”
“Reveling in her beauty was captivating, and learning about the sheer power of harpy eagles was incredible,” Dr. Rae said.
An encounter only possible by the legacy of Wild Kingdom’s own, Jim Fowler.
Learn more about Jim’s time on Wild Kingdom and how the original stories came to be.
