DAVAO CITY – A healthy Philippine Tarsier (Carlito syrichta) was rescued on February 01, at Purok Mangga, Sitio Calatungan, Barangay Burias, Glan, Sarangani Province.
Community Environment and Natural Resources Officer (CENRO) of Glan, Forester Abdul D. Cariga in a press statement revealed that a certain Julius Cononica, a resident of Barangay Burias rescued a tarsier from a young boy who immediately brought it to the Barangay Chairman Hon. Venancio S. Wata III of Barangay Burias, who then reported the incident to the CENRO Glan office.
Based on the examination conducted by Dr. Vernie Rino L. Asperga, Municipal Veterinarian of Glan, the tarsier was a juvenile male tarsier. It didn’t show any signs of injuries and was fit to be released back to the wild.
The CENRO office immediately freed the endangered specie together with the composite team of BLGU of Burias, MLGU Glan at Purok Mangga, Sitio Calatungan, Burias, Glan, Sarangani Province, an inhabited area.
In 2008, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Assessment classified the Philippine tarsier as Near Threatened species due to the significant decline of its population.
Threats include habitat destruction and fragmentation, hunting, agricultural pollutants and human disturbance. In DENR Administrative Order No. 2019-09 “Updated National List of Threatened Philippine Fauna and their Categories”, the Philippine Tarsier belongs to the Other Threatened Species category.
The DENR has again warned anyone that possession of wildlife without permit is punishable under Republic Act 9147 otherwise known as the “Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act.
