Tamaraw protectors mulling to revive captive-breeding program
THE protectors of the Philippine tamaraw are eyeing to implement anew the ambitious captive-breeding program in order to boost the efforts in saving the critically endangered species from extinction. At the same time, they are looking into an ideal location to relocate a viable population outside their habitat within the Island of Mindoro.
Over the years, human encroachment into the tamaraw’s known sanctuary on the island continues to put pressure on the world’s rarest and most elusive buffalo.
Scientifically known as Bubalus mindorensis, the tamaraw is a type of water buffalo that can only be found on Mindoro.
It is estimated that around 400 of the 600 tamaraws are concentrated on top of Mounts Iglit-baco National Park (MIBNP).
Critically endangered
ALSO known as Mindoro’s dwarf buffalo, the Philippine tamaraw’s population remains critically endangered, a conservation status that means the species is only a step away from extinction.
Although in the last decade, due to conservation efforts including strict management regime at MIBNP, the population of the largest land mammal in the Philippines remains highly vulnerable to various threats, said Neil Anthony del Mundo, assistant protected area superintendent of the MIBNP and concurrent OIC of the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) said.
This is based on the number of buffalos showing up in different sites in recent years as part of the annual survey conducted by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its conservation partners.
“That is why we are looking at implementing a captive-breeding program for the tamaraw,” del Mundo told the Businessmirror in an interview at the sideline of a recent United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Biodiversity Finance Initiative (Biofin) Europe, Asia, and the Pacific Dialogue at a hotel in Pasay City.
Asean Heritage Park
ITS designation as an Asean Heritage Park (AHP) is anchored on the fact that the MIBNP is the only refuge of the tamaraw. It is the only known place in the world where the biggest remaining population of the tamaraw can be found.
According to the Asean Centre for Biodiversity (ACB), which implements the AHP, the declining population of the tamaraw warranted the area to be established as a game refuge and bird sanctuary.
Initially, it covers a total area of 8,956 hectares. On November 9, 1970, the area was increased to 75,445 hectares upon its declaration as a National Park by virtue of Republic Act 6148.
Shrinking territory
HOWEVER, despite its vast area, the territory of the tamaraw has been shrinking due to human encroachment, del Mundo said.
He said the increasing presence of humans and their destructive activities, such as farming at the periphery of the MIBNP, as well as hunting of wild animals for food and trophy, disturb the elusive wild buffaloes, prompting them to move farther to the hills.
Some of the tamaraws are seen near residential communities nowadays. Their protectors suspect they got lost or were forced to move out of the range of a territorial bull that does not tolerate competition in time for the mating season.
“Because of the shrinking territory, bullfighting happens. They are highly territorial,” del Mundo explained.
Last year alone, he said at least six young bulls were killed in what they believe were due to injuries from deadly horns in a bullfight.
Hunting for food, trophy
FAUSTO NOVELOZO, the chieftain of the Taw’buid, one of the seven known tribes of Mangyans on the island, blamed the outsiders, or “dayo,” who go up the mountains of Mindoro to track down and kill the tamaraw for food and trophy.
“If it were only us [Mangyans], the tamaraws would still be roaming the island by now. We don’t hunt and eat that much. It [hunting of tamaraws] started when outsiders began coming to Mindoro. We have been living on the island for as long as I can remember and the tamaraws were plenty. But when the lowlanders came, they were here just like yesterday, and just like that, the tamaraws are gone,” Novelozo said in Filipino.
According to Novelozo, Mangyans seldom hunt tamaraws.
“We don’t do it very often. Once a year, perhaps, but that’s it. Unlike the lowlanders, they kill them at every opportunity they get,” he said.
The visibly sad “Punong Tribo [chieftain]” of the Taw’buid said hunters from the lowlands use more sophisticated weapons that easily kill the elusive tamaraw, unlike Mangyans who rely on their traditional hunting practice.
Saving the species
IMPLEMENTING a captive-breeding program for the tamaraw is one way of saving it from extinction, del Mundo said. He noted that it can be done on the site or off site, but they prefer it on the island of Mindoro.
He said this is the reason why he has been recommending relocating a viable population of the tamaraw to other areas outside the MIBNP. However, he said the area should be set aside for conservation—either a national park, a game refuge or a wildlife sanctuary, where the tamaraws can roam without human intervention— and more importantly, free of threats.
Mount Calavite Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the candidates for the plan, he said.
Pre-pandemic plan
“WE actually started this plan before the pandemic. But because of the lockdowns, the plan was set aside. We are now reviving,” he said. Del Mundo said the DENR’S TCP is in close coordination with experts and some institutional partners to make the plan work.
He said reviving the captivebreeding program means capturing young, ready-to-breed bull and female tamaraws, probably in the same gene pool where “Kalibasib” was born— the Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation, Research and Educational Center in Barangay Manoot, Rizal town, in Occidental Mindoro province.
Born on June 24, 1990, Kalibasib, short for Kalikasan Bagong Sibol, died on October 10, 2020, due to multiple organ failure as a result of old age. He was the only product of the first captive-breeding program.
Lessons learned
ACCORDING to del Mundo, they have a lot of lessons learned from the failed captive-breeding program of the Tamaraw Conservation Program.
During the first implementation in the 1990s, he noted that the tamaraws were not carefully selected.
“Some may be old or no longer in their reproductive stage,” del Mundo said in a mix of English and Filipino.
He added that learning from breeding by natural selection that takes place in the wild, they may consider letting the tamaraws roam free in the enclosure and let the breeding take place naturally.
The enclosure where Kalibasib was allowed to roam freely, he noted, was big enough for a bull and several females mate and reproduce.
“Of course, we need to consult the scientists who implemented the captive-breeding program,” he said.
Funding
LIKE other government programs, the TCP’S captive-breeding program is faced with funding challenges.
Maintaining the TCP’S 24 Tamaraw Rangers alone is a huge challenge, he said, let alone protecting the entire MIBNP.
Del Mundo said they are eyeing for appropriation from the annual General Appropriations Act and other funding support to implement the various activities of the TCP, including the proposed captive-breeding program.
“That is why we are working with UNDP Biofin. We are looking for funding support for all our programs,” he said.
Del Mundo, nevertheless, remains confident that funds to save the iconic Philippine tamaraw will flow to make this ambitious program happen.