Tamaraw population down to critical level

Tamaraw. AFP file photo

Demand for its meat and insufficient conservation resources have reduced the population of the critically endangered tamaraw, the Philippines’ largest endemic mammal.

As the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) celebrates Tamaraw Month this October, a conservation official admitted that it has remained difficult to protect the wild water buffalo, which can only be found in the country.

Rodel Boyles, officer in charge of the Tamaraw Conservation Program in Mindoro,  said they had counted 274 tamaraws in the wilds of Mindoro Occidental this year. In 2010, Boyles said his team saw 314 tamaraws.

In the 1960s, tamaraws roamed freely in the island of Mindoro. At that time, their population was estimated at 10,000.

Boyles said human disruptions remain the number one threat to tamaraws. “They are still being hunted for their meat,” he said.

He noted that they could not always protect the buffaloes from poachers and indigenous tribes who hunt them since they lack the manpower to do it.

Natural death

Some tamaraws are also being eased out of the grasslands of Mindoro while others die of natural death, Boyles said.

Environment Secretary Ramon Paje said it was important to protect the forest and grasslands of Mindoro which are the habitats of the tamaraw.

“We can only protect the tamaraw if we also protect its habitat,” he said.

The tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) can only be found in the forests and grasslands of Mts. Iglit-Baco National Park in Mindoro Oriental, and in Mts. Aruyan and Calavite in Mindoro Occidental.

According to the DENR, the tamaraw is a much smaller version of the carabao, and is distinguished by its V-shaped, backward-pointing stout horns which it shakes to signal aggression.

Boyles said the Philippines need to beef up its efforts to protect the mammal, which is classified as critically endangered species in the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Gene pool a failure

The government, he noted, should put electronic tags on the buffaloes in the wild to prevent double or multiple counting.

Boyles also proposed a satellite mapping of the protected areas to determine the habitats of the buffaloes.

The government established the Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP) in the 80s to arrest the decline in tamaraw population. But the program was a failure as all 20 tamaraws originally captured for the gene pool have died.

Only Kalibasib (short for Kalikasan Bagong Sibol), which is also the first and only tamaraw born in captivity, is what is left in the breeding program.

Boyles said their method was to release the buffaloes in the wilds and protected sanctuaries of Mindoro Occidental. Since then, there have been encouraging signs that the tamaraws were breeding.

“In the past, we saw herds with only six tamaraws. Now, we have seen herds with 12-13 heads. That is a manifestation that the population could be growing,” he said.

Originally posted: 10:57 pm | Tuesday, October 11th, 2011