Wild Animals of the Philippines
Ink and markers, Personal Work, May 2020
Last May 22, 2020, I joined the Webinar #GoingViral by Haribon Foundation! It was about Keeping Wildlife in the Wild, and the speaker was J Kahlil Panopio. I learned so much from the webinar; we've tackled the differences between wild and domesticated animals, about zoonosis and how it can be transmitted from animals to humans, and how even if we already have the Wildlife Resources Conservation & Protection Act of R.A. 9147, there are still people, sadly, who do illegal wildlife trade and pet trade.
Wildlife should stay in the wild in their natural habitats; if we keep driving them out because of urbanization, poaching and selling them, forest habitat degradation, and other causes, we're making ourselves more vulnerable to risks of catching viruses from infected animals, because if their homes are compromised, where will they go?
The Pilandok – Philippine mouse-deer (Tragulus nigricans)
The Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi)
The Binturong (Arctictis binturong)
The Philippine pangolin or Palawan pangolin (Manis culionensis)
The speaker gave ways we can do as citizens to help like not harming bats or other wild animals, conserving their habitats, restoring the quality of forests, not patronizing businesses that sell wildlife products and derivatives, and reporting illegal hunting to your local Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Basically, we must keep wildlife in the wild!
The long-tongued nectar bat (Macroglossus minimus)
A fruit bat based on the Philippine naked-backed fruit bat (Dobsonia chapmani)
We can also volunteer and be members of various non-profit organizations and groups that aim to protect our environment and the many diverse life forms that thrive there.
The Tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis)
The Philippine tarsier (Carlito syrichta)
The Philippine warty pig (Sus philippensis)
Joining that webinar inspired me to do these little square marker and ink drawings of some of our wild animal friends!
*This is an on-going project.