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Monday, September 26, 2005
Experts eye sanctuary for Sarangani 'vampires'
By Rommel G. Rebollido
"VAMPIRES" continue to grow in number in a small village in Maitum town, Sarangani Province.
They dangle from trees like dark, withered leaves, but a closer look would reveal creatures with dog-like facial features and huge wings.
They are not of the Transylvanian kind that sucks blood, though, but the ones that feast on nectars and fruits.
They are called Pteropus vampyrus, scientific name of giant flying foxes, known as the largest bats in the world.
A Filipino wildlife expert has corrected earlier findings that the thousands of huge bats found in Maitum town were golden-crowned flying foxes (Acerodon jubatus).
The bats in Barangay Pinol in that town are actually giant flying foxes, said Apolinario Carino, a wildlife specialist from the Center for Tropical Conservation Studies in Silliman University.
Carino and Engineer Estelita Corpuz of the Protected Areas and Wildlife Division of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, visited Pinol over the week to check on the bats, which population continue to grow since they sought refuge there from nearby Palimbang town in Sultan Kudarat.
Years back, DENR declared that the bats in Maitum were that of golden crowned flying foxes, which are rare fruit bats endemic only in the Philippines. As it turned out, they are the giant flying foxes.
The Pteropus vampyrus, also a fruit bat, can also be found in Southern Burma, Thailand, the Indochina Peninsula, Malaysia, Borneo and Java.
Cariño said this bat species feed mainly on fruits, flowers, nectars, and leaves. They are considered as pollinators and seed dispensers.
Corpuz said initial studies they conducted revealed that the bats were found responsible in the pollination of such trees as durian and kapok.
The bat species is considered an essential part of the forest, she said, explaining that seeds of fruits that the bats eat are voided while in flight, in effect mass planting the seeds coated with "organic fertilizer" to the land below.
She said they were trying to trace the possible feeding ground of the Pinol bats. In their earlier assessment, there were no damages to the fruit trees in Pinol and nearby farms.
"There is possibility that the bats cross Sarangani Bay at night into the other side of the province to forage for food," she said.
Studies revealed that in flight, the bat's wings follow a slow eagle-like beat that can carry its body even to a distance of over 40 kilometers while searching for food.
Promising to work for the declaration of Pinol as a protected sanctuary of the bats, Cariño and Corpuz urged the locals to plant talisay and logo trees to serve as roost for the bats.
Considered as the world's largest bats, a matured Pteropus vampyrus can have a wingspan of over six feet and weigh over two and a half pounds.
An earlier assessment by DENR-12's PAWD traced the bats to have come from Barangay Kalubi in nearby Palimbang town, Sultan Kudarat, where the creatures were initially observed in 1998.
Unabated slash and burn farming in the forest of Kalubi destroyed the bat habitat forcing the creatures to move to Barangay Malisbong, also in Palimbang, and eventually to Barangay Pinol, where the forest remain lush and not so undisturbed.
In Pinol, the bats were initially hunted for food by some soldiers and non-residents. But, the largely Muslim village folks prevailed upon the soldiers not to further harm the creatures.
Maitum information officer Beth Palma Gil said it was rather fortunate for the bats to inhabit Pinol because the predominantly Muslim community considers it taboo to eat bat.
Carino suggested there should be a quarterly monitoring by the local government and DENR to establish the movements of the bats.
DENR earlier estimated the Pinol bat population at over 180,000. Carino's exit count, however, was 23,000 bats.
Carino said there are 24 species of fruit bats known in the world, but, only 13 are found in the Philippines.
(September 26, 2005 issue)
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