High hopes for the tamaraw population

By Jonathan L. Mayuga

Published in the Business Mirror, June 5, 2015

http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/high-hopes-for-the-tamaraw-population/

 

The tamaraw

WITH its slightly increasing population—a trend observed in the last five years in Mindoro—environment officials believe there is a bright future for the endangered Philippine tamaraw.

Despite the threats, they believe that conservation effort at the Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park (MIBNP) for the Mindoro’s wild beast, also known as the Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis), continues to gain ground, hopeful the dream that they will once be seen roaming free in the wild will become a reality.

Endemic to Oriental and Occidental Mindoro, an island in the Mimaropa region in southern Luzon, the tamaraw is amongthe proposed national symbols. In fact, Presidential Proclamation 273 of 2002 declares October of every year as a special month for the Conservation and Protection of the Tamaraw in Mindoro.

The tamaraw is currently considered a critically endangered species. Only a few hundreds remain of this unique species, which could only be found in the hinterlands of Mindoro Island.

Compared to the stocky or bigger native carabao (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis), the tamaraw bears V-shaped horns, has a shorter tail and a scraggly coat of chocolate to ebony fur.

It is wild and aggressive, unlike its domesticated cousin, the “beast of burden” and Filipino farmers’ best friend and most reliable farming companion.

A fully grown tamaraw stands about 4-feet tall and weighs about 300 kilograms (kg), significantly lighter by 200 kg to 300 kg than the ordinary native carabao.  

According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Biodiversity Management Bureau (DENR-BMB), the remaining tamaraw population in Mindoro is concentrated atop grassy slopes and forest patches of Mounts Iglit and Baco, and a few other areas on Mounts Aruyan, Bongabong, Calavite and Halcon. 

Increasing population

The country’s top biodiversity official said the population of the tamaraw continues to increase over the past five years, basing the conclusion on the result of an annual population survey conducted in the MIBNP.

Director Theresa Mundita Lim of the DENR-BMB said that, based on the annual count conducted in April 2011, there are only 274 tamaraws left. This is the highest number since the annual count started in 2000. 

It was estimated that 10,000 of this rare animal thrive on the island of Mindoro in the early 1900s. Because of the cattle-killing rinderpest disease, its population was drastically reduced in the 1930s. 

Its population continues to shrink owing to logging and hunting until the 1970s, when the population fell below 100, prompting the government to launch the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP).

Despite a failed captive-breeding program that started in 1980s, the strong-protection measure that was used in the protected area saw the population of the tamaraw slowly increasing.

In 2012 the number went up to 327; 347 in 2013; 382 in 2014; and 405 in 2015. Rodel Boyles, head of TCP and Protected Area Superintendent (Pasu) of the MIBNP, said a total of 413 tamaraw was recorded this year. 

This year the tamaraw count was conducted between April 12 and April 19, with the DENR, through the Protected Area Management Board (PAMB), taking the lead. PAMB acts as the policy-making body in the management of the protected area, which is being enforced by the Office of the Pasu.

Boyles said, the tamaraw count was conducted in partnership with the Far Eastern University (FEU), local government units (LGUs), and DENR partner and volunteer organizations. 

A total of 65 volunteers took part in the count from 18 vantage points within the MIBNP, counting herds from a distance of 200 meters to 500 meters from identified tamaraw feeding grounds.

“The trend is increasing in the last five years. As far as counting is concerned, it was increasing. We conducted the count for five days and we spent a day for data analysis,” Boyles said.

He said the counting is synchronized in different areas. 

“There are many calves, so that means the population is increasing because of breeding.  But the size of our study is limited. We have to improve or expand our study areas,” he said, partly in Filipino.

Boyles said they intend to improve the system of counting the tamaraw to include other areas where the herds have been sighted.

Other areas, such as in Sablayan, which is already outside the protected area, could be included in the annual count, he said. “We are considering other areas, but we have to validate the potential areas first.” So far, Boyles noted that the area being observed as part of the annual tamaraw count is only about 14 percent of the total area of the MIBNP. 

“There are other areas where the tamaraw thrives. This means that the population may actually be higher than the number we are recording,” he said.

For her part, Lim said that, while the slight increase in this year’s annual tamaraw count may not be “impressive,” the growth in the population is, nevertheless, a significant development.

“It is safe to say that the population remains healthy and it is actually increasing,” she said.

“In fact, outside Mounts Iglit-Baco National Park in Mindoro, there are reported sightings of the tamaraw. This means that the population is slightly increasing,” Lim told the BusinessMirror.

She said in the future more areas should be included in the annual count to make a more accurate assessment of the tamaraw population trend.

Key biodiversity area

A protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) Act, MIBNP became a national park by virtue of Republic Act (RA) 6149 dated November 9, 1970. 

A key biodiversity area, the entire MIBNP is shared by the towns of Gloria, Bansud, Bongabong, Pinamalayan and Mansalay in the province of Oriental Mindoro; and the towns of Sablayan, Calintaan, Rizal and San Jose province in the province of Occidental Mindoro.

While the park is named after two prominent mountains—Mount Iglit (2,364 meters above sea level) and Mount Baco (2,488 meters above sea level)—there are two other mountains within the protected area, namely, Mount Wood (2,024 meters above sea level) and Mount Sinclair (1,842 above sea level).

The park is blessed with abundant water with five major river systems and several minor systems draining from the various peaks.

Grassland is the most predominant land cover of MIBNP, comprising around 72,811 hectares, or 38.25 percent, of the total land area, ideal for feeding ground of tamaraw, and a remaining forest area of about 29.83 percent of the park’s total land area.

According to a biological profile of MIBNP, 63 species of plants can be found in the area. The majority of the species are orchids and begonias. Aside from the wild tamaraw, the park is also home to monkeys, wild pigs, palm cat and Malay civet. 

Nine species of fruits and insect bats thrive in the park. A total of 104 species of birds also breed in the park, including the Mindoro Imperial Pigeon, Mindoro Bleeding Heart, Mindoro Scops Owl, Mindoro Flowerpecker, Mindoro Hornbill and the Black-hooded coucal. A total of 11 species of snakes were also recorded; 14 species of lizards and nine species of amphibians.

Hunting practices

Two known Mangyan tribes—the Buhid and Tau-Buhid, which are claiming vast portions of the park as their ancestral domain—live within the MIBNP, which continues to face various threats, such as logging, illegal-wildlife trade and hunting for food and trophy.

Boyles said hunting in the MIBNP remains a serious threat to the population of the tamaraw in the wild—a reason dispersal in other areas is not happening.

“Hunting is part of the culture of the Mangyans. For them, hunting tamaraw is subsistence; it’s food,” he said.

While there are national laws that protect the tamaraw, Boyles said there is also a law, specifically the Indigenous Peoples’ Rights Act (Ipra), that guarantees the protection and of the traditional way of life of the Mangyan.

Laws that protect the tamaraw against hunting include Commonwealth Act 73, RA 1086, RA 7586 or the Nipas Act, which establishes protected areas, and RA 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.

For Mangyans, Boyles said they have designated certain areas where hunting tamaraw is allowed. While he said there are designated areas for traditional hunting, he also sees the need for management intervention, such as restricting the hunt to fewer and smaller areas.

He said the PAMB is eyeing to tighten the regulation in hunting tamaraw which is exclusive for the Mangyan, it being part of their tradition and way of life. According to Boyles, the lowlanders’ unsustainable hunting methods are influencing the Mangyan. He noted that Mangyan now use guns instead of spears, nylons instead of vines for snare, and bigger traps. “Before, Mangyan use only spears in hunting tamaraws. Now they use guns. For snare, they used to use vines but now they use nylons,” he said. 

Using vines for snare, he explained, does not seriously injure a tamaraw, giving them a better chance of survival if they are able to escape. Nylons injure the tamaraw when it struggles to escape.

“If the tamaraw escapes from the snare, the chance of survival is low if it is injured,” he explained.

Being an endangered species, hunting of tamaraw is prohibited under the law but since it is part of the Mangyan tradition and way of life, “we are letting them to hunt but we want to enforce stricter rules,” he said.

Boyles said regulating the use of other animal traps, such as steel cages and pits, is being eyed.

“We want them to make small steel cages and smaller pits,” he said. Bigger cages or pits means catching more than one tamaraw, including juveniles, he said.

Another concern is that the lowlanders hunt in the MIBNP not just for food, but for trophies, and they target not just tamaraws, but other wildlife, too.

Biodiversity conservation

According to Boyles, they continue to engage the Mangyans living within and outside the protected area, with the hope of getting their complete support.

“We continuously hold our information, education and communication campaign. We want to show them that they will be affected if the tamaraw is gone in Mindoro,” he said partly in Filipino.

Besides moderating hunting practices, he said they are eyeing to encourage the Mangyans to become forest protectors in order to prevent the lowlanders from encroaching the protected area to cut trees and hunt wildlife.

“Since they said Mounts Iglit-Baco is their ancestral domain, we would like to encourage them to be part in protecting the area against the lowlanders,” he said in Filipino.

According to Boyles, the DENR, through the PAMB, is implementing livelihood programs, such as animal dispersal of carabaos and small ruminants. 

On the other hand, under the National Greening Program, people in the communities are also provided with jobs as partners of the massive reforestation activities, he added.

From its failed captive-breeding program in the 1900s, the TCP moved forward to strengthening protection and conservation in the wild to boost its population through natural breeding within the 75,445-hectare protected area.

Lim said protecting the entire MIBNP is protecting not only the tamaraw, but other endangered wildlife that takes shelter in the vast forest. 

She said the government is not alone in its endeavor for the MIBNP, but to save the tamaraw, the DENR-BMB will need all the help it can get, particularly from the LGUs and the people in the communities.

Lim said the LGUs, which has a seat in PAMB, must integrate development plans and programs in the MIBNP in the development agenda of their respective localities. 

Funding support for the protection of the MIBNP, she said, will boost biodiversity conservation that will help save the tamaraw against hunters.

Lim said the fact that tamaraw continues to thrive within the MIBNP is proof that the ecosystem remains healthy and must be protected against all threats.

A protected area, such as the MIBNP, she said, is hosting a diverse species of flora and fauna, including those classified as threatened and critically endangered like the tamaraw, which LGUs should help sustainably manage together with the national government.

Through the TCP, the DENR hopes to educate the communities, not only to become the protectors of the forest, but champions of the country’s rich biodiversity.