Bohol officials rescue caged tarsiers
TAGBILARAN CITY – Aside from the Chocolate Hills, Bohol has the endangered tarsiers as a popular attraction.
The tarsiers – cuddly-looking creatures with soft, grayish fur, four to five inches high, with tails like rats’ and ears like bats’ – are endemic to the towns of Corella, Loboc, Sevilla and Bilar, but tourist-related businesses in other areas have taken them out of their habitats into their own display rooms to attract visitors.
This practice has prodded the provincial government to call for a ban on the showing of the tarsier for commercial purposes outside their natural environment.
Locked up for tourists
On Wednesday, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) approved unanimously Resolution No. 002-2008, urging the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, through Secretary Jose Atienza, to stop the issuance of wildlife farm permits that allow possession and display of tarsiers for business or commercial purposes.
It blamed the DENR for the proliferation of permits in Panglao, Loay, Albur, Anda and Sagbayan.
“While these towns are not considered natural habitats of the tarsiers, the plight of the primates is also critical since they are locked up in cages for easy viewing,” says Board Member Alfonso Damalerio II, chair of the committee on natural resources and environment.
The board also approved on first reading the proposed Ordinance 015-2008, which prohibits the possession and display of the tarsier and imposes penalties on violators.
The legislative measures came amid concerns by provincial officials and tourism industry stakeholders who had pushed for stronger steps to protect the tarsier, which has been classified as an endangered species by the DENR.
For an individual or entity to possess a tarsier, a wildlife farm permit must first be secured from the DENR. But the board members were bothered because the department had yet to conduct an inventory of the tarsiers that are increasingly being traded and brought outside their habitats.
Based on scientific studies, tarsiers, being nocturnal animals, rest during daytime and hunt for food at night. Damalerio said the presence of humans could shorten the tarsiers’ life span since they are subjected to stress.
Wildlife farm permits
“The DENR should stop issuing permits allowing the tarsiers to be held in captivity,” he said.
In October, a floating restaurant and river cruise business in the town of Loay obtained another wildlife farm permit from the DENR regional office to hold 10 tarsiers, including two macaques (monkey species).
Nestor Canda, provincial environment and natural resources officer, said in an interview that his office did not process the permit applications and that he did not issue any official recommendation or assessment for the issuance of the permits.
“Even with the absence of solid and strict guidelines regarding the issuance of permits, several private businesses were able to acquire a wildlife farm permit from the DENR regional office,” the joint committee report said.
“Each new permittee will put more tarsiers in danger,” Damalerio pointed out.
Sanctuary
In 1997, then President Fidel V. Ramos issued Proclamation No. 1030 declaring the Philippine tarsiers especially protected faunal species. The law prohibits the hunting, killing, wounding and taking possession of the primates and mandates the DENR to establish “appropriate sanctuaries” for its preservation.
It also states that the breeding or propagation of the tarsier can only be granted to persons or entities with technical and financial capacity to maintain its existence.
Canda promised to conduct a province-wide inventory of the people, entities or businesses who are in possession of the tarsier, whether legal or illegal.
The board resolution and proposed ordinance acknowledged the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella as the center of the tarsier conservation program and its natural habitat. Possession and viewing for commercial and related purposes outside of the sanctuary will be penalized under the proposed ordinance.
Tarsier foundation
In 1996, the Philippine Tarsier Foundation Inc. (PTFI) set up the Philippine Tarsier and Wildlife Sanctuary at Canapnapan, Corella, in order to protect the animal from extinction through increased awareness, researches and the establishment of protected areas in Bohol.
The program also provides economic and social development opportunities to residents through ecotourism-related livelihood projects.
The foundation, headed by hotelier Anos Fonacier, acquired 170 hectares of forested area as sanctuary site. Through a P5-million assistance extended recently by Bohol Rep. Edgar Chatto, the sanctuary’s facilities and landscape are being improved.
The project also gets a yearly allocation of P1.5 million from the Philippine Tourism Authority.
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