UP Diliman bans bird hunting on campus

MANILA, Philippines–First, it was the picking of sunflowers. Now the University of the Philippines (UP) campus in Diliman, Quezon City, faces another scourge: bird hunting.

In Facebook posts, Wild Bird Club of the Philippines founding members Lu-Ann Fuentes Bajarias and her husband, Amado Bajarias Jr., expressed their horror over the killing of a wild bird at the UP Diliman lagoon on Sunday afternoon which they witnessed.

Lu-Ann said that three men, who were apparently combing the lagoon for crabs and fish to eat, killed a Black Bittern (Dupetor flavicollis), a bird species rarely seen on the campus. She posted photos of one of the men holding up the dead bird.

Amado said that the species was uncommon in the Philippines with the last documented sighting on the campus in 2008.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Lu-Ann said though she and her husband reported the incident to the campus police, their concern was not to apprehend the men but for UP to enforce “clear-cut policies” on preserving the wildlife in its campuses.

Sought for comment, the Campus Maintenance Office (CMO) under the UP Diliman Office of the Vice Chancellor for Community Affairs said that there was a “no hunting” policy on the campus.

“The UP campus abides [by] the national law on this. Endangered species, migratory birds, even trees should be protected,” CMO acting director Alden Aynera said.

“Hunting is strictly prohibited. Even crab picking. Those crabs are for the birds to eat. They’re part of the habitat,” Aynera added.