Tamaraw population rallies

MANILA, Philippines - Environmentalists said that due to strong conservation efforts launched by concerned groups, the tamaraw population now stands at 382 – the highest ever recorded.

A collaboration among the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Tamaraw Conservation Program (TCP), Far Eastern University (FEU), World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Mindoro’s indigenous Tau Buid tribe, the “Tamaraw Times Two” project aims to double the number of wild tamaraw from 300 to 600 by 2020.

TCP recalled that in 1969, the global population of the tamaraw, the Philippines’ largest and rarest endemic land animal, was thought to have dropped to less than 100 heads, threatening the species with extinction.

“We counted 382 heads during our annual survey last April – a big improvement from the 345 recorded in 2013, and the 327 we saw in 2012. We’re also seeing more juveniles – a sure sign that population recovery is underway,” said TCP head and Mts. Iglit-Baco Park Superintendent Rodel Boyles.

Compared with the larger and more docile carabao (Bubalus bubalis carabanesis), the stocky tamaraw (Bubalis mindorensis) bears distinctive V-shaped horns, a shorter tail and a scraggly coat of chocolate to ebony fur. Adults stand four feet tall and average 300 kilograms – half that of a typical carabao.

An estimated 10,000 tamaraws thrived in Mindoro in the early 1900s. Population was decimated by widespread logging, hunting and an outbreak of cattle-killing rinderpest in the 1930s. Just a few hundred survive atop the grassy slopes and forest patches of Mts. Iglit, Baco, Aruyan, Bongabong, Calavite and Halcon in Mindoro today.

 Except for calving cows, adult tamaraws are mostly solitary. Cornered or threatened, they can be aggressive, chasing their foes up to a kilometer. They are extremely tough: hunters have long claimed to have emptied entire assault rifle clips into charging bulls, to no avail.

The tamaraw is classified as critically endangered – the highest risk rating for any animal species. Four national laws protect it from poaching – Commonwealth Act 73 plus Republic Acts 1086, 7586 and 9147. Conservation efforts date back nearly 40 years.

The Philippines celebrates Tamaraw Month this October.