By Armando A. Mortejo
Filipinos should refrain from taking wildlife species from their natural habitat as they are “very sensitive and will not live long,” Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje issued the statement in light of the sudden death of the tarsier that was rescued from the Manila Golf and Country Club in Makati City.
According to Dr. Theresa Mundita Lim, director of DENR’s Biodiversity Management Bureau, the tarsier had died of pneumonia and heart failure based on necropsy report.
“We have very interesting wildlife species, such as the tarsier. Most of the time, we are tempted to buy them and take them as pets. But these are very different from domesticated animals like dogs and cats. They are very sensitive and highly vulnerable to stress and diseases,” Paje said.
Philippine tarsier, which served as the model of Steven Spielberg’s blockbuster, “E.T.,” is endemic to the country. Tarsier is found in the southeastern part of the archipelago, particularly the islands of Bohol, Samar, and Leyte. Its geographic range also includes Maripipi Island, Siargao Island, Basilan Island, and Dinagat Island.
Known in the science world as “Tarsius syrichta,” tarsier derived its name from its elongated tarsus or ankle bone. It is a tiny animal, measuring about 85 to 160 millimeters in height, which makes it difficult to spot. The mass for males is between 80 and 160 grams, usually lighter for females.
“The world’s smallest monkey” is an often-heard slogan. Actually, tarsier is not a monkey. In truth, its classification is somewhat problematic. Some scientists consider tarsiers to be a taxonomic suborder among the primates. But because they are closely related to lemurs, lorises, and bushbabies, tarsiers are classified by others with the prosimians to which these animals belong.
Like all species of tarsiers, the Philippine tarsier is nocturnal in habit. “It stays at the edges and right inside dense vegetation of different types, including inside patches of dipterocarp forests and secondary forests, preferably among dense bushes and low undergrowths,” the environmental group Haribon Foundation reports.
“Occasionally, tarsier stays even inside dense bushes that grow at the edges of cogonal grasslands in areas which have been cleared and abandoned to grass,” the Haribon adds. It also inhabits coastal forests.
In the 1960s, Philippine tarsiers used to abound, particularly in Bohol. There were so many that many tarsiers were run over by passing cars. People recalled that masses of tarsiers used to cross the roads at night, doing their slow hop-crawl on the ground.
Today, such is not the case anymore. They are on the verge of extinction. The dwindling of Philippine forests has posed a grave and significant threat to the survival of these animals because this results in the destruction of their natural habitat. Indiscriminate and illegal logging, cutting of trees for firewood, “kaingin” (slash-and-burn farming) and urbanization patterns have encroached on the habitats of the tarsier.
The unabated hunting of the species by humans for house pets or for trade has contributed to its decline as well. Hunting tarsiers to sell as pets was a thriving industry until recently. Because of its adorable and benign appearance, many have been lured to keep the Philippine tarsier as pets. This demand fuels the capture and illegal trade of the animal further diminishing its remaining number
“(Philippine tarsiers) fell prey only to their natural enemies, such as civets and snakes. But habitat destruction, unabated hunting and illegal trade have reduced their population to near extinction,” said the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Inc. (PTFI), a non-government organization spearheading a campaign to save the tarsiers.
The PTFI has built a sanctuary just 14 kilometers away from Tagbilaran City, the capital of Bohol. It is a forested area of 134 hectares between the municipalities of Corella and Sikatuna.
“Please avoid visiting the tarsiers kept in cages along Loboc River,” the PTFI urged when visiting Bohol. “These shy animals have a miserable live, and normally don’t survive for long.”
During the time of the presidency of Fidel V. Ramos, the Philippine tarsier was declared as “a specially protected faunal species of the Philippines.” Presidential Proclamation No. 1030 prohibits “the hunting, killing, wounding, taking away or possession of the Philippine tarsier” and activities that would destroy its habitats.
The 1966 International Union Center for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Animals classifies the Philippine tarsier under the “near-threatened category.”
The UN Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) listed the Philippine tarsier under Appendix II, which means trade of the species and subspecies “is strictly regulated.”
“Both listings mean that the species is not yet threatened with extinction but may become so if appropriate conservation measures and trade regulations are not carried out,” explained Dr. Wilfredo S. Pollisco who was then the director of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Bureau when interviewed.
Fossilized records of the forebears of the Philippine tarsier date back to the Eocene period some 45 million years ago. The animal was only introduced to western biologists in the 18th century. And they may disappear from this part of the world soon.
“If no action is taken now, the Philippines tarsier can soon be added to the list of extinct species,” the PTFI said in a statement.
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