Dr. Ferds Recio and Dr. Nielsen Donato uncover the threats endangering rodent rats and Tabon scrubfowl birds, highlighting the urgent need for conservation. Watch the full episode now!
‘Born to be Wild’ is GMA Network’s groundbreaking environmental and wildlife show hosted by resident veterinarians Doc Nielsen Donato and Doc Ferds Recio. #BornToBeWild #GMAPublicAffairs #GMANetwork
Watch it every Sunday, 9 AM on GMA
Network. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
‘Born to be Wild’ is GMA Network’s groundbreaking environmental and wildlife show hosted by resident veterinarians Doc Nielsen Donato and Doc Ferds Recio. #BornToBeWild #GMAPublicAffairs #GMANetwork
Watch it every Sunday, 9 AM on GMA
Network. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
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FunTranscript
00:00It's best if we consider this to be the father of the catfish.
00:09To make a living, they caught it and ate it.
00:14Look at this. One of their food is something that you would never think of as a meal.
00:21But this is the meat of a rodent, a catfish.
00:31The catfish is not yet ready to lay its eggs.
00:35One of its eggs is already in the gutter.
00:39Because a lot of people are waiting to get it.
00:43The eggs of the catfish are huge.
00:45Almost 1.5 times the size of the eggs of a chicken, a jumbo.
00:50If we get a lot of eggs, there will come a time when they won't be able to breed.
00:55But we still managed to get it.
00:56So if that happens, they won't be able to breed. They will be extinct.
01:14It's all about finding food for the catfish.
01:16It's all about finding food for the catfish.
01:25Until it was caught in a net.
01:30The catfish that was caught is not yet common.
01:35Let us get to know what they call the catfish.
01:46We rented the Surigao del Norte to get to know the catfish.
01:51Which means, it sounds like a catfish.
02:02It's a pest if we consider it a catfish.
02:10To make a living, they catch it and eat it.
02:13Look at this.
02:15One of their food is something that you would never think of as a meal.
02:21But this is the meat of a rodent, a catfish.
02:26You know, it's not a chicken because of its limbs.
02:33This is a rodent.
02:36What does a catfish look like? Does it look like an ordinary catfish or a mountain catfish?
02:40It's a mountain catfish.
02:42It's a mountain catfish. It has a big head.
02:45It has a big head.
02:47It has a big head.
02:49It has a big head like this.
02:52So, it's a clean catfish.
02:54It's a clean catfish because it's an anemone catfish that they eat.
02:59There are 1,700 species of catfish in the world.
03:04Most of them are considered pests.
03:10According to the Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO,
03:15only 170 species of catfish are considered pests
03:20and carry diseases such as rabies and leptospirosis.
03:25Catfish are usually found in the jungle.
03:29But to catch them, some residents put traps in the mountains.
03:34This is one of the traps that they make for the rats.
03:38There you go.
03:40There are foods like bananas that have seeds.
03:45When they come here, the trap will be triggered and their legs will be attached to it.
03:52While we were going around the mountains, we saw a hole.
03:57Look at this.
03:59We saw rats.
04:03Look at this.
04:05They live here on this cliff.
04:09But it's not just rats that live here.
04:12This young catfish is busy sunbathing.
04:17All of a sudden,
04:19Ah! Ah!
04:21Oh, my God! It bit me!
04:23It bit its prey so hard.
04:26This is a catfish.
04:28It's rare to see a catfish of this size because usually,
04:32these catfish hide.
04:35And look at the color.
04:38The color is beautiful.
04:41Maybe later, those holes will be used for many purposes.
04:46They make catfish, but they also keep other animals,
04:51such as snakes and catfish.
04:55And we also saw another dragon.
04:58Oh, my gosh!
05:00It's a forest dragon.
05:02Wow!
05:04We have two types of lizards.
05:07You see, there are traces of green on its lips.
05:10And sometimes, it has a blue color on its eyes.
05:13After we investigated,
05:15we also brought it for a walk.
05:18Catfish are more active at night.
05:21That's why they are more likely to be caught at night.
05:26Dan was caught.
05:28Oh, my gosh! It's so big.
05:30Wait, let me put on gloves first.
05:32I'm not afraid of snakes.
05:34I'm not afraid of lizards.
05:36But when it comes to catfish,
05:38Hey! It's so heavy.
05:40Maybe it's less than a kilo.
05:43Oh, my God! I'm holding two rats.
05:46And the difference is,
05:48its head is bigger on my left
05:49compared to the one on my right.
05:53And its tail is noticeable.
05:56It's furry.
05:59Its tail is thick.
06:02And the reason for that is possibly
06:05because the weather here is cold.
06:08That's why thicker fur develops
06:11to protect them from the cold.
06:14Its tail is white at the end.
06:16Earlier this morning,
06:18they caught 10 rats like this.
06:20But we arrived a bit too late.
06:22They were worried that they might get hurt.
06:25So they turned around.
06:27That's why we said
06:29that we need to see the whole mountain rat
06:32because it's growing.
06:34Field rats, the ones that eat,
06:36don't grow like this.
06:38They call it Amamaktin.
06:40It's a Philippine forest rat
06:42that can only be found in the Philippines.
06:44To you, it might look like
06:47a typical house rat.
06:50But it has a different look.
06:52Its whiskers are very long.
06:54It has a different shade here.
06:57Its cheeks are white
06:59to make it look so different
07:01from the usual rats
07:04that we are seeing in the city.
07:07Amamaktin's favorite animals are rats and insects.
07:11However,
07:12there is a chance that it will come down
07:15to the farms
07:17to look for food
07:19like corn and sweet potatoes.
07:21What do they destroy to you?
07:24Especially the sweet potatoes.
07:27The ones that are crushed.
07:31They crush them?
07:33If there's meat in it,
07:35they crush it.
07:37In planting,
07:39the residents there rely
07:40on their income.
07:44There is a part of the mountain
07:46that needs to be destroyed
07:48to make agriculture.
07:50That's why they also make food
07:52for the remaining rats.
07:54In the eyes of the residents,
07:56the look of the rats
07:58in their area is the same.
08:00Aside from eating the Philippine forest rats,
08:04it is more important
08:06for other types of rats
08:08to enter their area.
08:10Like the pest
08:13that they also eat.
08:15If the number of endemic rats
08:17continues to decrease,
08:19it will have an effect
08:21on our environment.
08:23Especially because they are
08:25the so-called forest engineer
08:27of the forest.
08:29Our forest rats
08:31are sensitive
08:33to changes in the environment.
08:35They are a good indicator
08:37of the state of our environment.
08:40They are also good dispersers
08:42that eat fruits or plants.
08:44This is important
08:46for the regeneration
08:48of our forest.
08:50They are also free items
08:52or food for different types
08:54of wildlife.
08:56They also contribute
08:58to nutrient cycling
09:00like they eat small animals
09:02and different plants.
09:05In others,
09:07the source of protein
09:08is fish.
09:10But experts still remind us
09:12that fish
09:14are the hosts
09:16of pathogens.
09:19The food they eat
09:21is at the infective stage.
09:23Even if they cook
09:25the prepared foods
09:27or meat,
09:29the proper handling
09:31will still be affected
09:33by the transmissions
09:35of zoonotic diseases.
09:36With the help
09:38and natural resources
09:40of Surigao del Norte,
09:42they will study
09:44the situation
09:46of the local residents
09:48and how to help them.
09:50They will also study
09:52the fish.
09:54The fish may look alike
09:56at first glance,
09:58but each one
10:00has its own purpose.
10:02This includes
10:03feeding the fish.
10:09Early in the morning,
10:11this pair of birds
10:13start their work.
10:24They are feeding
10:26for their arrival.
10:34This is the time
10:36when the couple
10:38are waiting
10:40for the eggs.
10:45But even if there are no eggs,
10:47there are already
10:49a lot of fish
10:51waiting to be caught.
11:03The couple
11:05have to find
11:07a place
11:09with soft soil
11:11for the eggs.
11:14They chose
11:16the windy part
11:18of the island
11:20near the seashore.
11:22They have to clean it
11:24thoroughly
11:26before making a nest.
11:29Due to the amount
11:31of debris around,
11:33they have to wait
11:35for almost 3 days
11:37before removing it.
11:39These are the birds
11:41that have been thoroughly cleaned
11:43when it comes to the nest.
11:46These birds live
11:48in the ground
11:50and have big feet
11:52that are used
11:54to dig deep
11:56to make the eggs.
11:58But the couple
12:00are not yet born.
12:01They are already in Hokkaido
12:03because there are a lot of people
12:05waiting for them
12:08including the residents
12:10of the island.
12:25According to the DAO,
12:272019,
12:28the number of birds
12:30in the wild
12:32is already vulnerable.
12:39This island is beautiful.
12:41This is also the island
12:43that they call
12:45Tabunan.
12:47This is where they go
12:49to get the eggs
12:51of the birds.
12:53I noticed that
12:55the nest of the birds
12:56is full.
12:58You will see a pair of birds,
13:00tabun birds,
13:02who will clean this area first.
13:04They will remove
13:06the rotting leaves
13:08because maybe they know
13:10that it will affect
13:12the incubation period
13:14or the incubation
13:16of their produce.
13:18They are just here
13:20in this area.
13:22The tabun
13:24is a bird.
13:26Tabun Scrapfowl
13:28is a very patient bird
13:30that will be their nest.
13:33They will use
13:35this nest
13:37and other tabun
13:39in the coming years.
13:42But because there are a lot of tabun
13:44and it is hard to get,
13:46our team left the camera trap.
13:51You can see in the camera trap
13:53that the tabun is busy
13:54looking for eggs.
13:57But their chosen bird
14:00is being visited
14:02by some of their predators
14:04like the bayawak.
14:10Oh, and they also made this nest.
14:19In one space,
14:21the tabun and bayawak
14:22are together.
14:25You can see that the bayawak
14:27and tabun are not attacking each other.
14:32And they are just letting
14:34the bird to clean.
14:40These scenes are different
14:42because
14:44they are friends.
14:50While the two bayawak
14:52are fighting,
14:54the tabun decided
14:56to throw sand.
14:58It is a sign that
15:00the bayawak are not
15:02cleaning their nest.
15:05Until one of the bayawak
15:07left the nest.
15:14The tabun
15:16is also making
15:18the birds to rest
15:20and sleep
15:22in the night.
15:28But when it comes to eggs,
15:30the tabun
15:32has a different story.
15:34One of the bayawak
15:36is taking their eggs
15:38and people are also waiting.
15:41I met Nanay Lita,
15:43a member of the Tagbanwa tribe.
15:46According to her,
15:48the eggs of the tabun
15:49are the source of their livelihood.
15:52This is the source of
15:54food for her family.
15:56It is hard to make a living.
15:58I have to look for eggs
16:00in the morning.
16:02That is my only job.
16:04I don't have any other job.
16:07In one day,
16:09they can get
16:11almost 25 eggs of the tabun.
16:13They can sell
16:15one egg
16:17for P25.
16:19Nanay Lita accompanied me
16:21to the place
16:23where she often gets eggs.
16:26She told me that
16:28she rarely gets eggs
16:30of the tabun
16:32because many people
16:34travel to the island
16:36to get eggs.
16:38It is big.
16:40There are a lot of eggs
16:42when it is big.
16:44There are a lot of eggs.
16:46How did you know
16:47that this is a tabun bird?
16:49We found it
16:51here in Ibabaw
16:53before looking for eggs.
16:56Nanay Lita showed me
16:58the eggs that she got.
17:00The eggs of the tabun
17:02are so big.
17:04It is almost 1.5 times
17:06the size of a chicken egg.
17:08We can buy that in the supermarket.
17:10The weight is the same
17:12and the color is brown.
17:14If you think about it,
17:15there are a lot of things
17:17that a tabun bird goes through
17:19to continue its breed.
17:21First of all,
17:23they only live here
17:25on an island.
17:27The space they move is limited.
17:29Second,
17:31they are prone to predation.
17:33The birds that come here
17:35need to lay eggs
17:37almost all over the island
17:39to be able to live here.
17:41It is hard to lay eggs here
17:43so that it can live
17:45and survive.
17:48We will bring it back here
17:50in the attempt of
17:52trying to eventually hatch it.
17:54That is why we will dig deep
17:56to bring it back
17:58to the place
18:00where we found it.
18:02It is also hard to find
18:04tabun bird eggs.
18:06If we get a lot of eggs,
18:08there will come a time
18:10when they cannot breed.
18:12They will be depleted.
18:14According to Dr. Carmela Española,
18:16an ornithologist,
18:18this bird
18:20can only be found in Palawan.
18:22The problem with this bird
18:24is that no one is doing
18:26a survey
18:28of their population.
18:30So it is possible
18:32that as the eggs
18:34continue to hatch,
18:36their population
18:38will decrease.
18:40The problem is
18:42that even though
18:44they are found
18:46mostly in the Dalampasigan,
18:48there are also a lot of people
18:50who live there.
18:52So a lot of people
18:54get unregulated eggs.
18:56So it is possible
18:58that the population
19:00of this bird will decrease
19:02without our knowledge.
19:04This bird
19:06has an ecological role
19:08to play.
19:10First,
19:12they help with
19:14forest regeneration.
19:16So they also
19:18actually help
19:20with seed dispersal.
19:22They help
19:24with forest regeneration.
19:26Mom, don't get
19:28a lot of eggs.
19:30Just take care of the chicks.
19:32Tell the people here,
19:34if you get too many,
19:36you will run out.
19:38I am old.
19:40I cannot breed every day.
19:42When the eggs
19:44return to their nests,
19:46I hope that they will hatch
19:48and become a beautiful bird.
19:50And I hope
19:52that their species
19:54will rise again
19:56from the ashes.
20:06Thank you so much
20:08for watching Born To Be Wild.
20:10For more stories
20:12subscribe to
20:14the GME Public Affairs YouTube channel.