A critically endangered Philippine eagle that was rescued from a trap has been released back into its natural habitat in the Philippines.

The injured female raptor named Nariha Kabugao was snared in a farmer's boar trap while hunting food in the town of Kabugao in Apayao province on March 19.

The farmer, Ariel Silaw, 38, surrendered the endangered animal to wildlife officials upon finding it tangled in his nylon noose trap.

After three weeks of rehabilitation, the bird of prey was released back into the forests of Barangay Bulu on April 12.

Fitted with a GPS tracker to monitor her movements, Nariha lept out of her cage, soaring over the woodlands before landing on a tree to preen her plumage.

Paquito Moreno Jr., Regional Executive Director of the environmental department, said: 'The release of the Philippine Eagle in Apayao, named after the town where it was rescued, is very significant as many of us who grew up learning about the Philippine eagle as the monkey-eating eagle, whose majority of the population is found in Mindanao.

'But years later, it's good to finally discover that the same is found in Luzon, not anywhere in Luzon, but in the Cordillera mountains, here in the province of Apayao.'

Authorities also said Nariha had three air gun pellets embedded in her body, indicating she may have been shot several times in the past.

Under the Philippines' Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, people found guilty of killing critically endangered species, including the Philippine eagle or monkey-eating eagle, may be jailed for up to 12 years and fined up to 1 million PHP (£14,130).

The Philippine eagle is endemic to the Philippines and is classified as 'critically endangered' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Their reproductive rate is quite low, with a mother eagle laying only a single egg every mating season. The parents then care for the hatchling until it is ready to hunt on its own before producing another egg.