Near extinct orioles draw help from mascot

A MASCOT representing the endangered Isabela oriole CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

ILAGAN CITY—Conservationists were taught how to make giant mascot suits of the Isabela orioles to help educate the public about these near-extinct birds found in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park and other forests.

There are 250 surviving orioles in the forests, so the mascot makers-in-training designed and stitched together the costumes on March 1 at the Ilagan sanctuary here as a “behavioral change communication approach” to protecting the birds, said Racquel Caldez, information officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Isabela.

The participants suggested “Isabelita,” “Oriong,” “Abel,” and “Isalvon” as names for their new mascot when it was unveiled at a ceremony declaring the oriole as the flagship species of the 359,486-hectare protected park, Caldez said.

The Isabela oriole (Oriolus isabellae) was named after Isabela where it was discovered in 1894. The bird is locally known as “kiyaw” because of the sound it creates that is reminiscent of that of a flute. Kiyaw is also an Ilocano word for yellow.

It was presumed to be extinct for many years until it was rediscovered in 1993 in Diffun town, Quirino province, and in 1994 in Baggao town, Cagayan province.

Additional sightings were reported in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park in 2004 in San Mariano town in Isabela.

To promote the bird’s relevance to Isabela, the provincial government needed “to create an emotional link between the Isabelinos and the Isabela oriole to [inspire and motivate them to] protect the species and their habitat,” Caldez said.

The mascots would help increase the “exposure of the flagship species and help raise awareness about the threats,” she said. Villamor Visaya Jr., Inquirer Northern Luzon