IT’S A FACT

THE MAGNIFICENT HARPY EAGLE

By JAMES SYDNEY

POWERFUL BUT ENDANGERED

One of the great attractions at the Guyana Zoo is the Harpy Eagle (harpia harpyja), reputedly the strongest eagle in the world. Even in captivity the Harpy looks a striking bird. Close up, you can see the bird, weighing up to 18 pounds, its massive feet armed with talons longer than a grizzly bear’s claws. Many find it a fearsome, intimidating creature, even in the zoo, especially when it is closely observing visitors with its piercing eyes.

It is also easy to imagine the harpy at home on its nest high up in the canopy of a tree in the Guyana rain forest. Equipped with a seven-foot wingspan, and an in-flight speed of up to 50 miles per hour, this the largest, strongest and most powerful raptor in the world, is a formidable hunter and has been called the "flying wolf."

THE GUYANA STORY

GANDHI AND THE IMMIGRATION PROPOSALS

By Dr. ODEEN ISHMAEL

From around 1912, members of the Indian legislature, the Imperial Council of India, increased their demands for an end to Indian emigration. As a result of this agitation, the Council, after consulting with the British Government, sent two of its members, Lala Chimman and Lall McNeal, to British Guiana, to examine the working and living conditions of Indians. Their report, made in 1915, described these conditions as favorable. This encouraged a member of the British Guiana Court of Policy, A. P. Sherlock, to suggest the establishment of a committee to examine how the immigration of Indians to British Guiana could be expanded. This committee was formally established, but before it could begin its work, the British Government announced that emigration from India would come to an end in September 1917.