It took a few minutes for the first one to walk slowly to an opening of the wooden crate. When the instinct kicked in, the rest of the troop followed, frantically walking outside, flapping their wings and blending with the environment. In a matter of minutes, they were all gone.
Locally called puñalada, the rare, ground-dwelling doves called Luzon bleeding-heart pigeons are finally “home,” wild and free in their natural habitat.
The release of the nine Luzon bleeding-heart pigeons on September 15 in the Angat Watershed Reservation in Norzagaray, Bulacan, was considered a “momentous event.”
It was the first time the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) released the birds in their natural habitat.
The pigeons were bred in captivity as part of a Wildlife Loan Agreement (WLA) between the Philippines and Singapore that dates back to 2012.
The birds were turned-over by Singapore authorities to the Philippines and were flown back home last month amid the travel restrictions and cancelled flights because of the new coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
Release protocols
The birds have undergone assessment and were declared to be fit for release by the DENR’s veterinarians almost a month since they arrived in the country.
Anson Tagtag, chief of the Wildlife Conservation Section, who led the DENR Release Team said they first sought clearance from the National Power Corp. (NPC), which manages the Angat Watershed Reserve.
The team inspected the site of the release along the Tarictic Trail. As part of the protocol, it allowed the birds to settle in and familiarize with their new environment while inside two wooden crates.
“The crate doors were then slowly opened and the birds were allowed to walk out slowly on their own,” Tagtag told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on October 13.
The birds, he said, were observed to be all agile and alert upon the release.
“After the release, they immediately dispersed, going their separate ways,” Tagtag said.
The team went back at the release site on September 16 and 17 as part of the post-release monitoring activity and observed that the birds have started to learn how to camouflage and hide at the sight of the team.
“This was a good sign that they are learning to adapt, increasing their chances of survival,” said Tagtag, who expressed hope that the birds will soon join the natural breeding population of the rare doves in the area.
Born in Singapore
DENR Assistant Secretary Ricardo Calderon told the BusinessMirror in a telephone interview on October 12 the birds are progenies of the two original pairs of Luzon bleeding-hearts the Philippines sent to Singapore in 2012.
The project was under a captive-breeding program of the DENR through its Biodiversity Management Bureau (BMB) in partnership with Singapore Zoo and Avilon Zoo in Rizal province.
“Actually, there were 10 of them, but one of the birds died because of an injury. Perhaps a result of the infighting between the birds during transport,” said Calderon, also the concurrent BMB chief.
In the last eight years, the WLA for the Luzon bleeding-heart has produced a total of 60 progenies. The DENR is hoping to see them brought back to the Philippines in the near future.
Illicit pet trade
Targeted for the illicit pet trade, the Luzon bleeding-heart is currently listed as “Near Threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
It is on the “Vulnerable” list of the DENR owing to its decreasing population.
Another major cause of its population decline is the massive destruction of lowland forest—known to be the natural habitat of the Luzon bleeding-heart.
The shy and secretive ground-dwelling doves are quiet and rarely leave the ground, that’s why the name, making them easy target by those involved in illicit pet trade.
They feed on small fruits like wild berries and insects, like most birds, thus, playing the role of nature’s farmers in the wild.
Unique features
Endemic to Luzon Island, the ground-dwelling doves are uniquely identifiable by its more pronounced “blood” feature on its breast.
There are five known bleeding-hearts in the Philippines—the Mindoro, Negros, Sulu, Mindanao and Luzon—which are distinguished for their reddish hue that extends down the belly, depicting a bleeding heart.
Monomorphic, or both sexes of the birds look the same, except that the males are slightly bigger, the Luzon-endemic dove produces only two eggs per clutch, or a pair of chicks per season.
Angat Watershed:
Ideal release site
Calderon, a forestry expert, said the Angat Watershed was chosen as the site for the release of the birds owing to its “strategic location.”
“It is near the city, while it serves as a geographical pathway to the Sierra Madre Mountain Range, making it an ideal area for wildlife release,” he explained.
Other wildlife species are also being released in the watershed after rehabilitation at the BMB Wildlife Rescue Center.
While the Angat Watershed is managed by NPC mainly to support power generation, contributing 200 MW to the Luzon grid, water for domestic use of Metro Manila and water for irrigation of farmlands in Bulacan and Pampanga, the watershed reservation is rich in both flora and fauna, and home to a large number of endemic species.
With a total area of 54,574 hectares of lush lowland forest, and owing to its location in the Sierra Madre, Angat Watershed is an important wildlife habitat, supporting at least 43 species of endemic and native birds, including birds with restricted range, such as the Luzon bleeding-heart pigeon, according to the DENR-BMB.
Philippines, Singapore partnership
The partnership between the Philippines and Singapore for the Luzon bleeding-heart is part of a WLA in order to establish an ex situ, or off site, population.
This conservation strategy, the DENR-BMB chief said, would ensure that the species will not be wiped out or rendered extinct by zoonotic diseases.
This is the same reason behind the WLA entered into between the Philippines and Singapore last year for the iconic Philippine eagle, Calderon said.
Mutually beneficial
The successful implementation of the agreement is mutually beneficial to both the Philippines and its partner, Singapore, in the case of the Luzon bleeding-heart.
“The advantage of a WLA is that we are able to document the breeding and maturation of a species at no cost to the government. Our partner shares to us what they have learned in the documentation under the captive-breeding program,” he said.
He explained that since the Philippines has no specific program for some of the threatened species, such as the Luzon-bleeding heart, it is only practical to enter into a partnership with private institutions.
For the DENR’s country-partner and private institutions, such as the Singapore Zoo and Rizal province’s Avilon Zoo, they will be able to showcase the rare birds for the public’s appreciation, and also get to learn from the experience, Calderon said.
Conservation measure
A WLA is allowed under Republic Act 9147, or the Wildlife Resources Conservation and Protection Act, for critically endangered species.
In the case of the Luzon bleeding-heart pigeon, which was classified as near threatened and vulnerable, the aim was to prevent the species’ further population decline through captive breeding outside its natural habitat.
Part of the deal is to ensure that the species being loaned under the program will not die.
Due diligence
Calderon said entering into a WLA is done with due diligence.
“It is a mortal sin when a species we loan for conservation perishes,” he said partly in Filipino.
He recalled that there were attempts to “borrow” a tarsier by a private institution for a captive-breeding program in Russia, which he rejected outright, saying the tarsiers will not survive in such an extremely cool climate.
“Tarsiers can’t live in a cold environment. We need to exercise due diligence,” he said.
Public support
To ensure the success of the government’s wildlife conservation program, Calderon called on the public to help protect the birds by simply leaving them alone in the forest.
“Ultimately, we can only say our WLA for the Luzon bleeding-heart pigeon is successful when they finally find a mate and start to lay eggs and reproduce,” he said.
“As responsible citizens eager to take those steps crucial to the birds’ survival, we appeal to everyone, especially with the communities residing near the birds’ release area, to help conserve and protect the birds and other wildlife,” he added.
One way of helping conserve the country’s threatened wildlife is by protecting and restoring the country’s ecosystems by planting endemic tree species so that the wildlife that depends on the forest may thrive.
“Seeing these birds existing unhampered in the wild evokes a renewed confidence that humans and wildlife can coexist harmoniously,” he said.
Image credits: DENR-BMB
1 comment
Hoping snd praying that these birds survive the threats (especially from humans) and quickly adapt to the new environment. Stricter implementation of laws related to wildlife protection and conservation should be undertaken. Community involvement is a must where intensive and continuous IECs are given to make people be aware of the values/benefits derived from protecting /conserving native wildlife/plant life in general and the Luzon bleeding heart and other birds in particular.