PHILIPPINES: EL NINO BLAMED FOR DROUGHT AFFECTING ANIMAL SANCTUARY

• published: 21 Jul 2015
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Eng/Taga/Nat The El Nino weather phenomenon is being blamed for a drought in the Philippines which is adversely effecting an animal sanctuary. There has been no rain on the normally lush island of Calauit for more than six months - making vegetation scarce. Several animals - some of them brought from Africa - have already died because of hunger and starvation. But it seems the drought is not the only threat to the animals - the return of the island's indigenous population is presenting the government with a difficult choice. Visitors to Calauit could be forgiven for thinking they've landed on the wrong continent. But this is not Africa, it's just an exotic animal reserve on one of the Calamian group of islands in northern Palawan, in the Philippines. About 104 African animals arrived here in March 1977, as part of an animal sanctuary project by then President Ferdinand Marcos. Eight African species, including giraffe, eland, topi, zebra, impala, gazelle, bush back and water buck, were donated by the government of Kenya. But now only seven species remain - the transported gazelles haven't survived. The island is now home to about 550 exotic animals and several rare species. For ten years, this place has been a popular tourist spot. Nearby resorts provide ferries to the island. Once here, a truck takes visitors on a safari, where tourists get a chance to see the African animals grazing. But apart from the African animals, visitors also get to see some of the endemic species like Philippine mouse deer. They even get the chance to pet a Palawan bear cat, or just watch the Calamian deers roaming freely. But for most tourists, the highlight of the tour is being able get close to any of the 34 giraffes. SOUNDBITE: (English) It's the closest thing we ever got in contact with an animal that big. As you know, if anyone will experience something close to that, we'll go to a zoo, right? But here, these animals are free. SUPER CAPTION: Paolo Francisco/Cristina Sison Calauit safari tourists But all is not well here. Like many parts of the Philippines, the island has been hit severely by a drought being blamed on the El Nino weather phenomenon. Calauit has not had any rainfall since October and the animals are suffering. Much of the land is now dry. 28 of the more than a thousand calamian deers have died because of hunger. Two of the 182 impalas did not survive either, five more are still missing. Animal caretakers say they have to cut trees from surrounding forests and bring them to common feeding grounds so that the animals will not have a hard time searching for food. SOUNDBITE: (Tagalog) "The effect is dreadful. The grass has already dried up and the animals have been greatly affected...they are getting thinner and thinner. So we need to give them food supplements so they won't die, because some animals have died in recent months because of hunger." SUPER CAPTION: Terencio Libertad, Resident Manager Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary And drought is not the only problem faced by the island's management at present. Even though people are forbidden from resettling the island, many of those who were paid by the government to leave the island have now returned. To give way to the animal sanctuary, about 60 families from the Tagbanua ethnic tribal group living on the island were forced to move to Busuanga in 1977. But when Marcos was ousted from power in 1986, all of them returned to Calauit saying the land in their resettlement area was not fertile for planting. As of last census, there are now 112 families living in the coastal areas of Calauit. SOUNDBITE: (Tagalog) You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/c16f8014b8a0fe8740fe32af99234cee Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork