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Tamaraw

Page history last edited by PBworks 16 years, 10 months ago
Tamaraw

 


Description and Rationale

 

A Tamaraw is a common carabao, although smaller.  An adult Tamaraw is about three feet high and weighs 300 kilograms. It is different from the carabao because of its v-shaped horns and their fur color is brown to grayish black.  The Tamaraw is found on Mindoro Island. They live near the tropical forests and streams.

In the 1930’s there was a deadly rinderpest disease amongst the cattle herds in Mindoro. This disease spread into the Tamaraw population and severely decreased their numbers. The Tamaraw became endangered when settlers started hunting them with automatic weapons as a sport.   Contributing also to their decline is overlogging and a reduction of grazing lands because  of the increasing population. All of these factors have reduced their number to less then three hundred today.

How can we help these animals from becoming extinct? Can we move them to a different environment? If we save the forest and put a law about hunting the Tamaraw, will it help them?  Can we start a concentrated breading program that would raise the numbers on the island more quickly?   If we drive this animal to extinction does it also mean we are destroying the forests they live in?  The Tamaraws keep the plants healthy by eating the weeds and fertilizing the plants.

There are a few ways to save these creatures. The first idea is the Tamaraw Conservation Project.  The project has three main thrusts: 1.Wild Population and habitat. 2. Captive population Management. 3. Community Assistance Program. We also need to provide the Tamaraws a place to live.  If the forest disappears the Tamaraws will become extinct as well.

This animal is important because in God’s eyes every animal He created was important to Him.  God wanted Adam to keep the animals well kept and safe.  We are responsible for them just like Adam was. If we don’t care for the Tamaraw then we don’t care about God’s creation.  It would also be a tragedy for the Filipino people to loose this incredible symbol of who they are as a nation.  Finally, the reality is that if we loose these animals we probably also will lose the forests they live in, which could impact the environment in deep way.

 

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Biology

 

Common Names and Synonyms

The tamaraw is also called Bubalus mindorensis. It is included in the subgenus Bubalus, a classification based primarily on horn morphology.  When the tamaraw was first discovered it was classified as a subspecies called the Asiatic water buffalo. The tagalog name for a Tamaraw is Tamarao.  There are no other recognized subspecies, or other synonyms.

 

 

 

Classification

Kingdom:  Animalia

Phylum:   Chorodata

Class:   Mammalia(warm-blooded vertebrates)

Order:  Cetartiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Family:  Bovidae (cattle, antelope, and goats)

Genus:  Bubalus (water buffaloes)

Species:  b. mindorensis

 

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Morphology and Physical Description

Bubalus mindorensis is smaller and stockier than the Asiatic water buffalo. The males have a thicker neck. The adult tamaraw weighs about 200 to 300 kilograms and the color of the hair is dark brown to grayish black.  The hair on the back (from the neck to the hindquarters) is directed forwards. White markings are present above the hooves as well as on the inner lower forelegs.

The face is the same color as the body. On some tamaraws, the face has whitish markings on each side of the jaw. The only facial markings observed in the most tamaraws are, a pair of gray- white stripes running from the inner corner of the eye towards the horns, creating a light "eyebrow".  The skin of the nose and lips are black.  The ears are reasonable in size; however inside the ears are white markings.

The Tamaraws have horns that are short, stout, and black.  The horn has sharp points at the top. They have a bigger width on the bottom and gets smaller at the top. The outer surfaces of the horns are usually worn and ridged, but the inner horn remains rough. Each horn is triangular which makes the horns a V-shape.

The muscles are meat so they are able to be cooked and eaten. There is nothing signifcant in their internal anatomy.

 

 

Getting Food

The Bubalus Mindorensis is a grazer, eating grasses, and young bamboo shoots. It is also a picky eater; it will eat cogon (weed in warm regions and used for thatching) and talahib only when these grasses are young and soft.  Like cattles they are chewers. The Tamaraw chew their food a lot to make sure it is not hard to swallow.

 

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Reproduction

Males and females generally remain separate during most of the year, coming together only during breeding season. How mates are selected is unkown. Young tamaraw are usually born throughout Mindoro's rainy season (from June to November). A mother’s pregnancy is about 276-315 days. The Cows give birth to a single calf every two years. When the offspring is young its color is light brown and it doesn’t get to the normal color until the age of 3 and 4 years. The mother does not watch their young closely. 

 

Environmental Factors

Formerly, B. mindorensis were diurnal, meaning they lived, moved and fed during the day. Today however, the Tamaraw have become nocturnal; they live and move during the night to avoid humans. They live in dense forests with open glades for grazing, such as are created by fires or landslides. They were also found from sea level to 2000m.They also prefer to be close to water for wallowing (To roll the body in water, snow, or mud). The temperature they live in is hot and humid. One environmental factor is the deadly rinderpest disease amongst the cattle herds in Mindoro. The Tamaraw can also get it.

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Origin and Distribution

The Mindorensis is originally from Mindoro, The Philippines. It has not been introduced to any other Philippine island or country, except to the San Diego Zoo. It has stayed on Mindoro Island since scientists first discovered the Tamaraw

 

Importance to People

If Tamaraws become extinct then the Mindoro people will lose some of their identity. This animal is recognized through Mindoro and the Philippines. The Tamaraw also eats the brush and if they become extinct then there would be an overgrowth of brush and it could increase the chance of wild fires.

There are several ideas on how to save the endangered Mindorensis. The best strategy for ensuring the survival of the Tamaraw  to provide them with a place to live that doesn’t keep changing. This means saving the Mindoro forest. If the forest dies then the Tamaraws would not be able to adapt quickly enough and they would die also. Another way is to farm the Tamaraws. If people raised them, then the hunters (people killing them for food, their skins, and so they don’t damage their crops) wouldn’t be able to kill them and they would be able to increase.

 

 

Survivability and Endangered Status

 The Tamaraw is severely endangered. When it was not endangered it was plentiful in Mindoro. Today there is only about 100 left. They are decreasing rapidly because the forest is decreasing. They aren’t able to adapt quickly and if the forest is gone, so are they.  The first idea is the Tamaraw Conservation Project, which can help save the Tamaraws.  The project has three main thrusts: 1.Wild Population and habitat. 2. Captive population Management. 3. Community Assistance Program. We also need to provide the Tamaraws a place to live.   

 

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Potential Solutions

Will we be able to save the Bubulas mindorensis? Many people and projects are trying to save the Tamaraw. It is hanging on a limb with only 200-300 Tamaraws left on the Island of Mindoro. The research and studies are still being conducted, learning more about the Tamaraw, to see if they could adapt to a different environment. They are also trying to see if people will help protect the Tamaraws. There seems to be several promising possibilities that may help the Tamaraw before they become extinct. Below are 4 possibilities with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for each.  

 

Possibility 1 Keep in Captivity

From an internet source called www.ultimateungulate.com it states that people of Mindoro, Philippines keep the Tamaraws in pens in order to preserve the animal. Many scientists and citizens of Mindoro believe if we put the Tamaraws in a safe environment the hunters can not kill them and they will be able to reproduce easily.  Raising cows is an example of raising the Tamaraws and that is what the Conservation Project is doing. 

Advantages:

1. Keeping the Tamaraws captive will save them from becoming food and clothing. In the early 1900s the hunters in Mindoro killed the Tamaraws for food and for their skins. However, they kept killing them and this has brought the Tamaraws to near extinction; but now the citizens of Mindoro raise the Tamaraws in an environment that keeps them safe so they are not harmed. 

2. If we conserve the Tamaraws in the Tropical Forests it will help contain their population, because if we tried to adapt them in a different environment then the risk of killing them is a higher.

 

Disadvantages: 

1. Several animals are in a breeding center (Mt Iglit-Baco). Captive breeding, as well as keeping them in a zoo, does not seem like a promising way to save this species – Brent Huffman believes only a single Tamaraw has ever been born in captivity.  Keeping individuals as pets is the WORST thing that could happen to the Tamaraw - there would be no breeding, and very little genetic mixing (since private owners are unlikely to let their Tamaraw go to another person).

2. Captivity will cost a lot of money in Mindoro because you will have to provide the food, and shelter for the Tamaraw.  It will tale a lot of time and effort to keep them well cared for.

3. Where will you keep them?  Mindoro is a very nice island but they have a lot of mountains and beaches. There is a very little flat land to keep them in one place.

4. When they are ready to go into the wildlife they will not be prepared. It will be hard for them to adjust to their new environment. They will be confused and not sure what to do.

 

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Possibility 2 Discouraging Hunting

In the early 1900s the top animal to hunt in Mindoro was the Tamaraw. The Tamaraw was plentiful, but hunters were killing them for a source of food and to make clothes out of their skin. We want to discourage the hunters in Mindoro from hunting or pass a law making it illegal to hunt theTamaraws.

 

Advantages:

 

1. If the Tamaraw is not hunted it Tamaraw will not be frightened, or become extinct. They will not have to worry about their environment, which means they can come out during the day and not travel at night.

2. If they are not getting killed then they will be able to reproduce.  It takes a long period of time for a Tamaraw to have an offspring so it’s hard if the hunters are killing them. They don’t have enough time to reproduce. 

3. God says in the Ten Commandments “Do not kill.” It is obvious God means do not kill men, but if we look out of the box he is also saying we should not kill animals indiscriminately either. To kill this animal for sports hunting is also to go against the principle of good stewardship over the resources God has given us. Because the Tamaraw is so endangered it should not even be hunted as a food source under the principle of stewardship. 

 

The disadvantages:

1. If we make a law to stop hunting the Tamaraw, people may go out of business; they will lose some of their food source and clothing. That will be very hard for people that aren’t able to get jobs easily. Many people in Mindoro, are not able to get good jobs because they aren’t able to go to schools and many people get money by killing animals and selling them. It is possible if they don’t have a job,  they could go into prostitution at the beaches in Mindoro. 

 

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Possibility 3 Conserving the Forest 

 

I emailed a foundation asking questions about the Tamaraw and they said they believe that it is best to protect the habitat in order to protect the species as well as the other flora and fauna in that habitat. In the Philippines they lost over half of their tropical forests and this has an impact on the Tamaraw. They have lost a lot of their food and shelter. 

Advantages:

1. If we conserve the forest from deforestation the Tamaraws will be able to reproduce a little at a time. The habitat will keep the animals healthy and strong because the food and shelter will be plentiful. 

 

Disadvantages:

1. The lumber that the Philippines sells is from the forests, and if they stop selling the lumber the Philippines could suffer an ecnomic step back  The lumber is a way of getting money. The Philippines is still developing their country and selling lumber is helping generate money for their government.

 

 

Possibility 4 Education

Many people are uneducated about the Tamaraw and its risk of being extinct. If we educate and show them ways they can help save this animal, many youth and adults will realize what they can do to help and to understand more of the issues.

Advantages:

1. If we educate, the world will get the information quicker.  Instead of trying to help the Tamaraw by one conversation project at a time, we can tell many people and they can help.

2. We can educate them by pamphlets, posters, internet, T.V, through schools, and making children books.

3. Education will teach people the why?  It will give them the sold reasons and help them understand why we should save this unique animal.  Education fixes problems at their core, which result in lasting change.

4. If we educate children with picture books and tell them how we should save the environment and the Tamaraw, they will learn how they can help in little ways. Ex: We can teach them about the hunters that killed most of the Tamaraw. Hopefully, when they are older they will remember the situation and they will learn not to harm the Tamaraw.

 

The disadvantages:

1. The problem with this possibility is it will cost a lot of money. Education is an important part of this world, but all over the world education costs money. You will need people to help educate and we would have to pay them. Then, we are going to need the materials to make the posters or pamphlets.

2. Education is not a fast pace project. It will take a long period of time. Educating is like teaching a baby how to walk. The baby has to learn how to sit, stand, and then take little steps; they learn by taking one step at a time. To start educating you have to teach a class, then a school, town, city, and etc. We have to take it step by step. 

 

 

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Bibliography

Gesch, Peter. "Bubalus Mindorensis." Animal Divesity Web. 1996. Univesity of Michigan Museum of Zoology. 9 Apr. 2007 <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Bubalus_mindorensis.html>. 

Heaney, Regalado. "Tamaraw." Wikipedia. Mar. 2007. 26 Mar. 2007 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaraw>. 

Hedges, S. "Bubalus Mindorensis." ICUN Red List of Endangered Species. 2006. 10 Apr. 2007 <http://www.iucnredlist.org/search/details.php/3127/all>. 

Huffman, Brent. "Bubalus Mindorensis." Ultimate Ungulate. 2 Jan. 2007. 26 Mar. 2007 <http://www.ultimateungulate.com/Artiodactyla/Bubalus_mindorensis.html>. 

Huffman, Brent. "Questions on the Bubalus Mindorensis." Email to the author. 1 May 2007. 

Santos, Anya. "Questions on Bubalus Mindorensis." E-mail to Brianna Raimondi. 1 May 2007. 

Santos, Anya. "The Tamaraw: Mindoro's Endangered Treasure." Haribon Foundation. 15 Feb. 2005. 26 Mar. 2007 <http://www.haribon.org.ph/?q=node/view/130>. 

"Tamaraw." Txtmania. 2007. 3 Apr. 2007 <http://www.txtmania.com/articles/tamaraw.php>. 

 

 

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