- Who
- Madagascan fish eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides
- What
- 240 total number
- Where
- Madagascar ()
- When
The rarest species of eagle is the Madagascan fish eagle Haliaeetus vociferoides, endemic to the island of Madagascar's northwestern coastal strip. Fewer than c.240 individuals are believed to exist in the wild and it has been assigned a categorization of Critically Endangered by the IUCN, which means that this eagle is one of the rarest species of bird of prey alive today.
This species is even rarer than the famously rare but much more spectacular Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi, which on account of its huge size and prestigious status as its country's national bird has attracted far more attention globally. Although this latter species is also categorized by the IUCN as Critically Endangered, conservationists currently estimate that around 600 specimens exist in the wild, plus some breeding pairs in captivity in the Philippine Eagle Foundation and elsewhere in this country.
