ESSAY
By Mona Gonzalez
We must safeguard the web of life and care about the other living species that we share this planet with. Pygmy tarsiers eat and host bugs that we’ve seen at home — insects, spiders, lizards, bedbugs, lice, fleas, roundworms, and tapeworms. The vaquita is preyed upon by large sharks and killer whales, keeping them away from us. But only 10 vaquitas are left and in their absence, the diet of sharks and whales may change. A tiger in the wild indicates that the forest it inhabits is healthy and diverse. As of now, there are 3,900 tigers in the wild globally, and more than twice as many (8,000) in captivity. By protecting the web of life, we build a kinder world for everyone.
The Philippine Balabac mouse deer (Tragulus nigricans) is considered a species all its own, and it has its own page in the IUCN. It was Meijaard and Groves who, in 2004, decided that the Philippine mouse deer, locally called pilandok (tiny deer), is very different from the Tragulus napu, which is a larger Malay Mouse Deer specie that is found in Thailand, Indochina, Sri Lanka, the Malayan Peninsula, and the islands of Sumatra and Borneo.
Unfortunately, this rare, reclusive animal is classified as Endangered. But the pilandok still exists in the wild, largely because of the presence of a pearl farm in Bugsuk Islands, one of three main islands that they inhabit.
Also called “the little goat” or the pig deer, the tiny Balabac mouse deer can live for 14 years in the wild, and 12 years in captivity. Pilandoks don’t have horns, but they have tusks. The male uses them for self-defense and protecting its territory, which they mark with urine, feces, or a secretion from its mandibular gland. A pilandok can live for 14 years in the wild, or 12 years in captivity.
A female pilandok usually gives birth to one newborn, or rarely, two. Within 30 minutes upon birth the babies can walk. The mother then leads her infant to a patch of leaves so it can feed itself. They will reach sexual maturity at five months.
The pilandok is native to the islands of Balabac, Ramos, and Bugsuk where the pearl farm, Jewelmer, is located. According to the IUCN, “Hunting is highly restricted on Bugsuk, which is on a long-term lease to a pearl farm. The island is guarded by private security and access is limited. It is likely that Bugsuk is now the stronghold for the species.”
Because Jewelmer has its own security, hunters can’t access its premises. Other private landowners collaborate in the island’s conservation efforts. The Pilandok was also introduced to Calauit and Apulit islands.
In 2015, a mutually beneficial relationship was observed between the pilandok and the python in Apulit Island. When a predator tried to attack, the pilandok hid, and the python attacked the predator.
A solitary nature
The tiny Balabac mouse-deer measures 40-50 cm from its nose to the tip of its tail, and stands 18 cm tall from the shoulders, and is the smallest hoofed mammal in the world. It’s secretive, and its greatest strength is its ability to hide. By day it cloaks itself in stubby, tangled undergrowth, remaining very still all day long. At night they creep out into mangroves to eat small flowers, fruits, grass, and leaves.
If they suspect someone is observing them, they will delicately sidle in the opposite direction. These loners have sometimes been seen in pairs. The balabac mouse-deer has a low tolerance for stress, and is suicidal. Ot has been seen slamming its head on trees, or leaping off cliffs.
Even in a zoo, the Balabac mouse is hard to study. Radosław Ratajszczak, president of Zoo Wrocław, told Fox5, “ It is difficult to observe them in our zoo. They hide from people in the thickest of grasses or in the recesses of the pagoda.”
A chevrotain ruminant
This mouse deer is neither a mouse nor a deer, it’s a chevrotain, a French term for “little goat”. This small ruminant regurgitates its food a few times until the food is fully digestible and edible.
The pilandok’s face resembles a mouse. Its body has hoofs like deer and goats. Its goat-like eyes have horizontal slits, permitting peripheral vision. It has pencil-thin, slender, ginger-colored legs and either white or dark-colored hoofs like a deer.
What makes it lovely looking at are its three white stripes that emanate from the throat and extend down to its chest. Its dark color differentiates the Balabac Chevrotain from other chevrotains from other countries. Some are black and brown, others are ashy, tawny, or orange. .
Why it is endangered
The pilandok’s endangered status is blamed on many things. In India, the chevrotain is threatened by leopards, some reptiles, tigers, and wild dogs. In the Philippines, we imagine snakes, eagles, and owls are its predators, but no specific predator has been mentioned in research papers — except for people. Local hunters consider its meat a delicacy. The skin can be made into leather, and the pilandok is bartered in illegal wildlife trade.
But the biggest cause for their decline is loss of habitat. They thrive in primary forests (filled with native trees where ecological processes are rarely disturbed by human activity); secondary lowland forests (largely on flat lands at are less than 3,300 feet elevations), and original forest vegetation (areas that were cleared, but are regenerating). They also like shrubland (largely dominated by woody, dense plants that are branched and trunkless). Shrublands are diverse in form, identity, and interrelationships of integral plants.
However, their habitat has been continually converted for agricultural use.
Current population
In the 2021 study, a transect survey was conducted to determine the current pilandok population. The study, “Geographic Distribution, Population and Conservation Status of Tragulus nigricans, an Endangered Mouse Deer Endemic to Western Philippines”, was penned by Christian E. Supsup et al.
A transect survey follows a pathline including its upward or downward slopes to study certain animals, and detect patterns and changes. They allow a clear view of activity, but information gathered is limited.
To bolster the study, other methods were included, such as “opportunistic searching on targeted habitats, and informal community interviews to assess the species’ status”.
Population
Supsup et. al. counted 25 pilandok in Balabac and Bugsuk islands. None were seen in Ramos Island, Apulit Island, and Calauit island. In the case of Ramos Island, the population was likely considerably reduced due to a nearly complete conversion of the pilandok’s natural habitat.
As for Apulit and Calauit, it must be noted that the pilandok isn’t endemic to these islands, but pairs were brought there for propagation. However, the study didn’t note any individuals in these islands.
Supsup recommended that local authorities and conservation biologists engage in more intensive, in situ conservation programs, which the authors believe would benefit the species most.
Pilandok in Zoos
On November 16, 2016, a lady pilandok was born at Chester Zoo, UK, making her the first Philippine mouse deer to be bred in the country. Zoo workers compared the size of the newborn to “a Christmas ornament.” The mother of the mouse deer is Rita, and its father is Ramos.
Tim Rowlands, zoo curator told zooborns.com, “The Philippine Mouse Deer is an endangered species. It’s highly threatened by massive deforestation in SouthEast Asia and so, it’s great news that our newcomer will add valuable new bloodlines to the conservation breeding program in zoos. It’s vitally important that we work to ensure these wonderful animals do not disappear for good.”
Another pilandok was born four years later in 2020 in a zoo in Wroclaw, Poland. The birth occurred on Nov. 10 at 2:24 a.m., and the newborn was compared in size to a large matchbox. The zoo installed surveillance cameras which filmed the entire event on camera.
Wrocław Zoo, along with several other zoological gardens, is the founder of research and protection of the Balabac mouse deer species by the KATALA Foundation in Palawan.
As of 2020, there were a total of 12 mouse deer living in European zoos, including zoos in Rotterdam, Belgium, and the UK. The only confirmed Philippine male mouse deer as of 2020 is Johnny English, a male mouse deer in Wroclaw. It isn’t known if Ramos, who fathered the newborn in 2016 in Chester Zoo is still alive.
Neither is it likely that Johnny English will be sent to other zoos in the UK, Rotterdam, and elsewhere in Europe for mating purposes, as these animals are sensitive to travel, often resulting in broken limbs or death. Still other European zoos have chevrotains from other countries in Asia.
Pilandok in captivity
In February 2016, a story was reported by GMA News of a pilandok pair that was sent to Apalit Island to hopefully propagate in the wild. Although the population grew, with each newborn the animal became visibly weaker (as earlier mentioned). The report noted that there was no natural water source for these animals to drink from, so water wells were set up for this. However, the fact that they became weaker as they became more plentiful was an issue.
The IUCN said research on habitat requirements, threats and conservation needs of the Balabac mouse deer are needed. For example, in Apulit Island the pilandok were free to live in the wild. However, there was no regular natural drinking source, so water wells were placed for them to drink from.
According to GMA News, it was noted that succeeding pilandok that were born in Apulit Island were weaker and continued to be weaker with each new birth. Supsup et al also suggested the territories may be too small to permanently support pilandok populations.
In another story released in 2019, GMA Public Affairs, with the help of Doc Nielsen, visited a home in Palawan that nurtured a pilandok from the wild that they observed was weak. It was caged and fed until it was strong enough to return to the wild. The incident was filmed by GMA Public Affairs.
In a third instance, abs-cbn news sent Kamags Kiko to look for pilandoks in the wild. Kiko noticed the presence of a rare tubog (Philippine fig) tree which pilandoks are partial to. However, the pilandok that was ultimately found was kept in a home and surviving captivity.
What is needed for the pilandok
Much must be learned about the pilandok. Supsup et. al. feel that local authorities and conservation biologists neglect the pilandok, and studies conducted on it are limited.
Especially noted is the need for intensive conservation programs in situ, especially regarding habitat essentials, predators, other hazards, and conservation needs which will benefit the pilandok most.
Furthermore, while there are laws protecting it, in actual practice hunters are tolerated provided the female is spared. Poaching benefits some zoos and collectors. Sometimes the pilandok is caged, causing injury to its delicate legs. It often dies in transport.
What if there are no more Philippine mouse deer?
Ironically, no research has identified the natural predators of the pilandok, except for humanity. It may be prey of some snakes and nocturnal birds like owls and eagles, but no proper study has mentioned this. What is known for sure is that the pilandok plays its role in a food web.
A food web is very different from a food chain. For example:
- Every living thing participates in a food chain.
- These food chains coexist and interact in a single food web.
- Each food chain provides a path for energy and nutrients to navigate the food web.
- Multiple food chains are interrelated and overlap within an ecosystem.
In light of the above, we may not know exactly how the absence of pilandoks in the wild will affect the food web, but its absence will not impact just a single food chain, since they all overlap with each other.
Here is how a food web links various food chains. First, they are loosely organized into five trophic levels:
- On the fifth level are animals that eat other consumers. An example isT lions (in the grassland ecosystem).
- The fourth level consists of third order consumers that eat secondary consumers. Examples (in a desert ecosystem) are eagles, and owls.
- The third level consists of secondary consumers who eat herbivores. Examples (in a desert ecosystem) are snakes that eat mice.
- The second level consists of primary consumers, ergo, herbivores such as the Philippine Balabac mouse deer which feeds on grasses, fruit, leaves and vegetation.
- The first trophic level are producers, or autotrophs, that make their own food through photosynthesis. Examples are plants, algae, and seaweed.
All of the above comprise a food web. One can only imagine how the elimination of one species in the food web will have an impact on an entire ecosystem. The sad reality is that so many animals have gone extinct, while others are nearing extinction or endangered (like the 25 pilandoks in the wild). Without doubt, many animals and plants within a single ecosystem are already extinct, or near extinction, or endangered. There is even a word for this: Ecocide, which is defined as the murder of entire ecosystems by humanity.
