Marco Vega, a university freshman, is home for summer vacation. As much as he enjoys his studies in biology, he loves hiking and camping in the mountains even more. He's beginning to miss Rita, the girl who caught his eye in school. Hiking in the mountains, he is captivated by a giant monkey-eating eagle hunting near his mother's farm. The eagle and its mate have genetically mutated into a huge and ferocious sub-species following their consumption of prey tainted with potent enzymes and chemical formulae that were left by scientists when their field laboratory was leveled by a powerful typhoon. He becomes consumed with the thought of finding the eagle's nest to gain real-life knowledge of the species and perhaps a role in their conservation when he becomes a biologist. He sets out on the trail with his horse and dog to track down the eagle. He braves the treacherous paths and inclement weather while admiring the beauty of nature that is around him. He discovers a large marijuana operation and barely escapes the armed guards who chase him down the river and into a rat-infested exploration tunnel. Luckily for him, growing up in a mine has honed his skills in surviving inside an abandoned tunnel. He follows the underground airflow to freedom at the other portal. Marco finds the eagles' nest on the edge of a cliff but he's not lucky this time. Scaling the rock wall to have a closer look at the nest below, the giant eagle spots him and attacks. Reaching to grasp a growth of shrubs for support, and hoping his move can momentarily keep the eagle off-target, he loses his foothold and falls to the ledge. He survives the scary plunge but realizes that there's no way out. In order to stay alive, he must learn to live with the wild eagles until a search party finds him. He envisions a daring plan of escape with the help of one of the eagles but first, he must tame the predator with the wind gadget that was once used by a wildlife photographer to charm eagles before taking their pictures for his magazine.