Aired (October 27, 2024): An endemic and critically endangered Philippine porcupine is rescued and examined in Aborlan, Palawan, by Doc Ferds Recio. To learn more about Philippine porcupines, Doc Nielsen Donato visited a rescue center in Palawan where these animals are being rehabilitated.
In a separate incident, two Philippine crocodiles-- another endangered species-- are also rescued. Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato discovered that these crocodiles are carrying a heavy burden in their stomachs. What could it be? Watch the full video!
In a separate incident, two Philippine crocodiles-- another endangered species-- are also rescued. Doc Ferds Recio and Doc Nielsen Donato discovered that these crocodiles are carrying a heavy burden in their stomachs. What could it be? Watch the full video!
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00:00There was a loud noise in the population of the Palawan Porcupine.
00:04Who would be interested in eating a rare animal?
00:11Because of the stabs to the body,
00:15no one dared to approach him.
00:18Suddenly,
00:20in an instant,
00:22he was thrown into a small prison.
00:25What?
00:27He didn't see it.
00:28Before he opens it,
00:30he will let you hear it.
00:31To warn you.
00:35The stories of the life of a porcupine
00:39are not just in your mind.
00:41Even if it's small,
00:42this crocodile is powerful.
00:49Its snout is already deformed.
00:51It's already...
00:54pointing upward.
00:55Look at the other side.
00:57I'm very curious to find out what this is.
01:17The Palawan Porcupine is circling this land
01:20to look for food.
01:25But it will not be easy.
01:38Because of the stabs to the body,
01:42no one dared to approach him.
01:46Suddenly,
01:48in an instant,
01:50he was thrown into a small prison.
01:54The only thing they should be used to is being free.
02:06The Palawan Porcupine is also known as the Durian because of its spikes on the body.
02:14While others bravely face the enemy,
02:17the Durian needs the back of the enemy to succeed.
02:26This is the right position for it to pierce its quills,
02:30or the hair that is pierced, to its predators.
02:36If it is pierced, it will sink to the enemy's skin.
02:42It will have a hard time escaping.
02:44And it can cause an infection if not taken care of.
02:49Their quills may be infected with bacteria.
02:56This endemic animal lives in a remote and dense forest in Palawan.
03:02But its care for the Durian, in the town of Aborlan, is kind to humans.
03:15This Durian has only one caretaker.
03:19His name is Dory.
03:33Cesar did not intend to take care of Dory.
03:36But out of pity, he decided to buy it to keep it alive.
03:45You can have a permit.
03:47For example, you have enough resources to feed it.
03:52You have a good place to keep it.
03:59The cage you put it in is good.
04:03If you can satisfy all these things, plus the animal will not thrive otherwise in the wild.
04:11And it cannot be released back into the wild.
04:14Just like this case, because it was taken when it was still a baby.
04:18That's why it cannot be released.
04:22I noticed that Dory is imprinted or used to humans.
04:27That's why it will have a hard time going back to the wild.
04:30We discourage people from taking care of the wildlife.
04:38Because there are roles that it plays in our environment.
04:45That they should really be there.
04:48This is also the first time that Dory was examined by a veterinarian.
05:07Oh.
05:12We want to determine if Dory is really Dory.
05:18If it's really a female.
05:20No penis, no testicles.
05:22It's a female.
05:24You can see the shape of her ears.
05:27And it really looks like it was pinched.
05:29The color of her hair.
05:33The color is darker at the top.
05:35Until it lights up as it goes down.
05:38This is her defense.
05:41This one.
05:43It's being made to sound.
05:45To warn you.
05:47A rattling sound.
05:52I gave Dory vitamins.
05:57But according to the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development,
06:00Dory needs to be turned over to their office.
06:06We will give them a turnover receipt.
06:09And then she will have rehabilitation at PWRCC.
06:15We have wildlife specialists there at PWRCC
06:21who know how to rehabilitate such animals.
06:30In my visit to this rescue center in Palawan,
06:34I saw various endemic species or animals that can only be seen here.
06:41One of the resident animals here is the Palawan porcupine or Doryan.
06:48This is where we observe the Palawan porcupine.
06:52An organization like ATALA can only handle so much species that can be rescued here.
07:01This porcupine is still new.
07:04In this enclosure, we will have a chance to observe its behavior.
07:09In this cage,
07:11we will be able to observe its behavior.
07:14In this enclosure,
07:16we will have a chance to observe its behavior.
07:19In this cage,
07:21the Doryan are hiding.
07:24They are here to breed.
07:27Even if the Palawan porcupine is nocturnal or only awake at night,
07:33they were taught to take care of them in the morning
07:38so that they can study their behavior more.
07:40Later on,
07:42a Palawan porcupine came out of the hole in its cage.
07:48It immediately ate the vegetables from its food.
07:56Palawan porcupines are herbivores.
08:00This means that they eat plants.
08:04One of their main food is vegetables.
08:08One of their main food is the seeds of plants.
08:14This is why they are known as seed dispersers or natural gardeners in the wild.
08:23According to the researcher specialist of the ATALA Foundation, Lemuel,
08:28Palawan porcupines have a strong presence in the population.
08:33This is why we focused on Palawan porcupines because they are undetected.
08:37We also found a threat in the field.
08:40It is now a threat because it is becoming popular in the illegal wildlife trade.
08:46It is like a bushmeat.
08:48Who is interested in eating a rare animal?
08:55What did you discover that is alarming?
08:58We discovered that aside from their meat,
09:01there is an international illegal interest in Palawan porcupines.
09:08There are derivatives that can be obtained from porcupines.
09:13This is like a black market.
09:17What we are doing now is having a roundtable discussion with law enforcement
09:23so that we can prevent the trade of porcupines from booming.
09:29We are trying to prevent it from becoming a pest.
09:33It is easy to catch Palawan porcupines because they live in the lower part of the forest.
09:41Because of this, they are considered a vulnerable species.
09:47The group can remind them not to kill or take care of porcupines
09:53so that their number in the wild will not decrease.
09:58We don't want to attract the attention of others.
10:02There is a demand for porcupines.
10:06We are just being cautious.
10:09We are also warning law enforcement.
10:12Porcupines are a weapon to survive,
10:17not just to fight other animals.
10:20Because of their world of movement,
10:24we humans are their biggest enemy.
10:35Times are good,
10:38so the baby porcupine, Aramila,
10:42is happily sunbathing under the sun.
10:45Suddenly,
10:49someone came and caught her.
10:52The poor porcupine was sold to a resort
10:56and put in a small cage
11:00where she is often thrown by people.
11:07The story of the life of a baby porcupine is not just a fantasy.
11:26I went to the resort where Aramila lives.
11:30I went to the resort where Aramila lives.
11:35Do you have animals to take care of here?
11:40Only this one, sir.
11:42Do you have permits for this?
11:44Not yet, sir.
11:46How did you get this crocodile?
11:49We just bought it, sir.
11:51She brought it to us.
11:53She said, I have a crocodile,
11:56I will buy it for you.
11:57So we bought it for Php 5,000.
12:00I see. But where did you get it?
12:03In Pulangi River,
12:05where they fish.
12:08That's where we got it.
12:10In the scale patterns of life,
12:12this is a Bukarot or Philippine Crocodile.
12:17Bukarot, endemic, are only found here in the Philippines.
12:22Based on the IUCN Red List or Threatened Species,
12:27they are basically endangered.
12:29It means that their species is on the verge of extinction.
12:36Because this Philippine Crocodile is so small,
12:39my judgment was I could handle it without using ropes,
12:43by just capturing it in the proper place
12:45where I can't bite it and it won't get hurt.
12:48Even though it's small,
12:50this crocodile is powerful.
12:58Look at the snout.
13:00The snout is already deformed.
13:03It's already pointing upward.
13:12The base of its jaw is too wide.
13:17This part here.
13:19Maybe it has a possible metabolic bone disease
13:23that's why it's deformed.
13:25Crocodiles have a metabolic bone disease
13:29if they are not popular during the day.
13:33As you can see,
13:35its scutes are still intact.
13:38It means that this Philippine Crocodile is from the wild.
13:42I'm holding one of the most endangered Philippine Reptiles
13:47in the whole world.
13:50We saw it here in one of the wild areas.
13:53We saw it here in a small enclosure.
13:58What are the rocks that you placed here?
14:01That's just a rock.
14:03This one?
14:04Yes.
14:05The one on the side?
14:06I placed it here.
14:07You threw it?
14:08Yes.
14:09There were so many people who abused it
14:13because they wanted to make this poor crocodile move.
14:18They threw it like this.
14:19We found more than 700 pieces of rocks in Aramila's cage
14:27including some wood and trash.
14:35This crocodile was thrown 700 times.
14:40It's really pitiful.
14:42We brought Aramila to a clinic
14:45for an X-ray.
14:47Sir Albert, can we see it now?
14:50It's a perfect X-ray.
14:52It looks beautiful.
14:53But what is that?
14:58We were surprised to see it.
15:01My suspicions were right.
15:03There were a lot of kids throwing rocks in his cage.
15:07I suspect that there were a lot of people throwing rocks.
15:111, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13.
15:1614.
15:17We saw 14 rocks.
15:20On the AP side,
15:22if we look at it laterally,
15:24we can count them.
15:26On the second X-ray,
15:28everything became clearer.
15:30This is the X-ray of the posterior part of the crocodile.
15:34There is a slight deformity
15:37in its femurs.
15:39It should be straight
15:41but it has an angle.
15:42It also has a certain degree of metabolic bone disease.
15:47It's not just Aramila
15:49who has this story.
15:51No matter how fierce a creature is,
15:59when it's time to imprison people,
16:02it disappears.
16:07For three decades,
16:08the Saltwater Crocodile of Georgia
16:11has been living in an ice plant.
16:15A large part of the channel, Georgia,
16:17doesn't look like a simple hole.
16:22With the help of the local DNR of Sambuanga, Cebugay,
16:26we tried to restrain Georgia
16:29to examine its condition.
16:33In the wild,
16:34the creatures have a strong predatory instinct.
16:36That's why
16:38they feel a little bit of fear.
16:40But Georgia almost didn't give up.
17:11It's turning. It's okay. It should turn.
17:15Go ahead. Go ahead.
17:18Wait. Wait. Wait.
17:19Keep turning. Keep turning.
17:20Go to the other side.
17:21Keep running.
17:22Open it a little bit so it can turn.
17:24Suddenly...
17:27Go. Go. Go. Go.
17:29Go. Go. Go.
17:30Go. Go. Go.
17:40Okay.
17:52It's okay, right?
17:53This is the biggest hole that we're concerned about.
17:56It's so hard.
17:57Look at the other side.
17:59It's not supposed to be like this.
18:00It's like there's a solid mass inside.
18:04To find out what's wrong with Georgia,
18:07we brought her to the hospital.
18:10What?
18:20There it is.
18:21Oh, my God.
18:22Stones.
18:24It's full of stones.
18:27There are a lot of stones here.
18:29I'm thinking that
18:30these stones
18:31might be used to get food.
18:33That's why
18:35the rocks are there.
18:37Stones.
18:43That's why I'm asking.
18:45Because
18:47it's possible that
18:48if it eats,
18:49it will swallow the stones.
18:51It's possible.
18:53We can see it.
18:54It's the same thing.
18:56It's possible.
18:57We can see it in other animals.
18:59In the wild,
19:00it's normal that they have stones
19:02inside their stomachs.
19:04But they use
19:05those small stones
19:07to help them digest.
19:09But if those stones
19:10are big,
19:11it's not normal
19:12for that animal.
19:14It's possible that it's mistaken
19:15that those stones
19:16are food
19:17and that it's being thrown
19:18into its cages.
19:19It's hard for us
19:20to get those stones
19:21inside its body.
19:29The animals use
19:30the stones in their stomachs
19:31to help them
19:32digest food.
19:36But if the stones
19:37are too big,
19:39it can be the cause
19:40of their illness.
19:43In the wild,
19:44it can lead to death.
19:49Right now,
19:50Ara Mila
19:51is being cared
19:52by a private individual.
19:54She's currently
19:55grazing on a farm
19:57where there's enough
19:58food to be given
19:59and no more
20:00stones for her.
20:02While Georgia
20:03was given
20:04medicine for 5 months
20:05to help her digest
20:06the stones
20:07inside her stomach.
20:11It's more active now
20:12according to the people
20:13who are watching
20:14the ice plant.
20:18Whenever we see
20:19animals in cages,
20:22we shouldn't
20:23throw them
20:24or hurt them.
20:26Because if there's
20:27something to throw
20:28into their lives,
20:29that's the chance
20:30for them to live
20:31freely in their
20:32natural habitat.
20:35Thank you for watching
20:36Born To Be Wild.
20:37For more stories
20:38about our planet,
20:39subscribe to
20:40GME Public Affairs
20:41YouTube channel.