MAMMALS IN THE PHILIPPINES: FLYING LEMURS AND FOXES, SHREWS

MAMMALS IN THE PHILIPPINES

Half the endemic species of mammal in the Philippines are endangered. The cloud rat of the Philippines is on the brink of extinction. Tender, meaty and size of a house cat, it has been hunted to the point of extinction throughout the Visayas. The Isarog shrew-rat has only been observed twice. Found in the mossy rain forests around Mount Isarog in southern Luzon, it survives almost exclusively on earth worms and resembles a miniature kangaroo. In 1997 one of two new species discovered in the Philippines was the Panay cloudrunner, a nocturnal squirrel-like mammal.

The largest Philippine wild animal, the tamaraw, is a species of buffalo that is similar to the carabao (water buffalo). Also known as the dwarf water buffalo, it was once found throughout the Philippines but now is found only on the island of Mindoro. Water buffalo are called carabao in the Philippines and are regarded as the national animal there.

The world's smallest hoofed mammal—the Philippine mouse deer— is found south of Palawan on Balabac Island. Locally known as Pilandok (Tragalus nigricans), this ruminant stands only about 40 centimeters at the shoulder level.

The Palawan bearcat is neither a bear nor a cat. Known in Southeast Asia as binturong, the bearcat is a species of its own, with population in the forests of Palawan, Borneo, Burma and Vietnam. It belongs to the family of Viverridae (civets and mongooses). The Palawan bearcat has a long body and a pointed face leading to the nose. Its head and body measure 61 to 96 centimeters in combined length while its tail is almost as long. It weighs 9 to 14 kilograms and lives up to 20 years.

Calamian Deer are a unique species found on the Calamian Islands, north of Palawan, and nowhere else. Scientists referred to this hog deer in the islands as Calamian deer in order to distinguish them from other hog deer in the world. An ordinary Calamian deer measures 105 to 115 centimeters in length and 60 to 65 centimeters high at the shoulder and weighs about 36 to 50 kilograms. It is said to have longer and darker legs, compared with other hog deer.

The only species of monkey and macaque found in the Philippines are crab-eating macaquea and the Philippine long-tailed macaque.

Philippine Deer

A male endangered Philippine deer (Rusa marianna, formerly Cervus mariannus) on the outskirts of Davao

The Philippine deer (Rusa marianna), also called the Philippine sambar or Philippine brown deer, is a deer species endemic to the Philippines and classified as vulnerable. Four subspecies are currently recognized: R. m. marianna in the Luzon biogeographic region, R. m. barandana in Mindoro, R. m. nigella in isolated upland areas of Mindanao, and R. m. nigricans in lowland areas of Mindanao. The species has a fragmented distribution and has declined substantially in many parts of its former range. It occurs on Luzon, Polillo, Catanduanes, Mindoro, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. It is considered possibly extinct on Biliran, Bohol and Marinduque and has been declared extinct on Dinagat and Siargao. [Source: Wikipedia]

The Philippine deer is smaller than the closely related sambar deer. Adults generally measure about 100 to 151 centimeters (39 to 59 inches) in head-and-body length and 55 to 70 centimeters (22 to 28 inches) at the shoulder. Adults typically weigh about 40 to 60 kilograms (88 to 132 pounds). The coat is generally brown, with a white underside to the tail. Males commonly grow antlers measuring about 20 to 40 centimeters (8 to 16 inches), while morphological differences have been observed among populations, particularly in Mindanao.

The species occupies terrestrial habitats ranging from sea level to elevations of at least 2,900 meters (9,500 feet). It commonly forages in grasslands located within or adjacent to primary and secondary forests. Forest cover provides shade and concealment, particularly during daylight hours. Deforestation and hunting have reduced available habitat and forced deer into increasingly isolated forest patches. Habitat fragmentation has also separated populations and reduced access to feeding areas.

The Philippine deer has cultural importance for some Indigenous communities. The Bagobo-Tagabawa community in Barangay Sibulan, Toril, Davao City, has identified the species as a "cultural keystone species," meaning that the deer has an important role in the community's culture and identity. Community members have established hunting and non-hunting zones in forests as a way of reducing hunting pressure and protecting the species. The Obu Manuvu Indigenous community has designated the Philippine deer as a "Pusaka" species, a term referring to a species with inherent cultural, historical and social value. The community has committed to protecting and managing deer populations within its ancestral domain.

The principal threats to the Philippine deer are habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and hunting. Forest clearing reduces both available food and the forest cover the deer uses for shelter, while hunting removes animals from already fragmented populations. The species also has a relatively low reproductive rate because females generally give birth to a single fawn. Deer are hunted for meat, which has been reported as being sold for about 150 to 250 Philippine pesos per kilogram. Antlers have also been used traditionally for various purposes, including as household decorations and in some folk remedies.

Characteristics and Behavior of Philippine Deer

Philippine deer are generally nocturnal, meaning that they are most active at night. They forage primarily during darkness, feeding on grasses, leaves, fallen fruit and berries. During the day, they commonly rest in dense forest vegetation where they are less exposed. Their use of grasslands for feeding and forests for shelter allows them to exploit different habitats within the same landscape. As forests become fragmented, however, suitable areas for both feeding and concealment become increasingly limited. [Source: Wikipedia]

The mating season generally occurs from September through January. During this period, females may form small groups of up to about 8 animals, while males become more vocal and increasingly territorial. Males are attracted to females by chemical signals and may become aggressive toward competing males. A male may defend a relatively small territory against other males. Territorial boundaries can be marked through urination, defecation and the rubbing of scent glands against vegetation.

Interactions between competing males can involve vocalizations, ground scraping, threatening displays and antler clashes. Many encounters do not result in serious physical injury because one animal retreats after a display or bluff charge. When males do fight, they may lock antlers and push against each other. These behaviors are associated with heightened activity and hormone levels during the breeding season. After the mating period, males may return to small bachelor groups, although some remain solitary for periods of time.

After mating, females generally give birth after a gestation period of about 6 months. A female normally produces a single fawn, which is born with light-colored spots that disappear after several weeks. The low number of offspring produced by each female limits the speed at which populations can recover after heavy hunting or other losses. This reproductive characteristic makes sustained hunting particularly damaging when populations are already small and fragmented. Protection of breeding animals and remaining forest habitat is therefore important for maintaining viable populations.

The Philippine deer has also been introduced outside its native range, including to Guam in the late 18th century. Mariano Tobias reportedly introduced the deer to Guam around 1771 or 1772 for recreational hunting, after which populations became established on Guam and several other Micronesian islands. Without its natural predators, the deer population on Guam expanded and contributed to overgrazing, affecting native vegetation and agricultural land. Management programs have subsequently been implemented to control its numbers. Introduced populations were also reported in the Ogasawara Islands of Japan, but those populations became extinct, including a post-World War II reintroduction from Guam.

Flying Foxes in the Philippines

The golden-crowned flying fox found in the Philippines may be the world’s heaviest bat. It weighs up to one and a half kilograms and has a wingspan of 5.5 feet. It has blond hair and feeds primarily fruit and leafs. The animals play an important role in dispersing seeds.

The golden-crowned flying fox is a kind of large flying fox. Large flying foxes (Pteropus vampyrus, formerly Pteropus giganteus) are also known as greater flying foxes, Malayan flying foxes, Malaysian flying foxes, large fruit bats, kalang, or kalong. They are a southeast Asian species of megabat that lives 15 to 30 years in captivity, and an average of 15 years in the wild.

Large flying foxes are found from Madagascar in the west to Australia in the east. They occur in Southeast Asia from southern Myanmar and southern Vietnam through Malaysia to Singapore and are present in most of Indonesia. Amon the places they are found southern Thailand, eastern Philippines, Sumatra, Timor, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Timor-Leste.[Source: Kelsie Norton, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]

The Aeta Negritos regard flying fox as a delicacy.When preparing the one kilogram bats Negritos first singe the hair, which also gets rid of a musky oil that permeates the hair, and then they roast the animals whole on a stick. Negritos like the intestines. One writer who tried a breast quarter said it "proved delicious—lean, dry and flavorful." Flying foxes in the Philippines are easily disturbed. Negritos approach them with banana leaves on their heads which seems to make the animals feel relaxed.

Flying Lemurs in the Philippines

The flying Lemur is an interesting and unique creatures that lives in the Philippines and can glide like a flying squirrel up to 100 meters in a single leap. In Mindanao, people call it "kagwang". Elsewhere it is known as colugo or the flying lemur. The colugo looks like a cross between a bat and flying squirrel. It is not closely related to the true lemurs of Madagascar but makes up its unique order: Dermoptera, or “skin wings.” They have the most extensive flight membranes of any mammalian glider, stretching from its head its tail and embracing all four limbs. In flight they look like kites. Mothers almost always flying with their babies with them. By contrast squirrel mother usually leave their young behind in a tree cavity.

David Attenborough wrote: “The most accomplished glider of all is another Southeast Asian animal, the colugo. It is about the size of a cat. Its gliding membrane stretches not from wrists to ankles, but to the tips of both fingers and toes, half way up the neck and to the very end of its tail. With the help of this, it can cover 70 yards in a single graceful and silent glide. It is. From all accounts, exclusively vegetarian. The fur on the upper side of its membrane is particularly handsome, dappled with cream or brown blotches each ringed with black that conceal it very effectively as it nestles in the center of palm trees or hangs below a branch with all its feet placed close together. Its floppy gliding membranes is so big, and its slender legs so extremely adapted to serve as lightweight struts for that membrane, that on the ground it is virtually helpless.

“But what kind of animal is it? Its teeth, that in most mammals normally provide valuable clues in establishing affiliations, are of no help for they are quite unlike those of any other living creature. The incisors of the top jaw are placed at the sides leaving a gap at the front ad the second of them has, uniquely among mammals, two roots. The incisors on the lower jaw are even stranger. They project not up but forward and are toothed like combs, Whether the colugo uses these to groom itself or to help it feed in some way is still not known. But although no living animal has teeth that are comparable, fossil skulls with very similar detrition are not uncommon in shales and sandstones laid down some 60-77 million years ago in North America. It seems that the colugo is the last living representative of a very ancient and successful; group that appeared just as mammals were beginning their expansion. “

Philippine Tarsier

The Philippine tarsier is the world’s second smallest primate after the pygmy tarsier in Sulawesi. Found on the Philippines island of Bohol, the Philippine tarsier has a long tail and large eyes and is about the size of a kitten. They are nocturnal creatures and live primarily in second growth forests. The Philippine tarsier is seriously endangered. They are hunted and sold as pets. Their habitat is shrinking quickly. The Philippine Tarsier Foundation has bred and released several dozen tarsiers.

The Philippine tarsier is just 10 centimetres (four inches) tall, weighing 120 grams (four ounces), with a rat-like tail, bat-like ears, and giant eyeballs, each one as big as its brain. The tarsier is nocturnal, lives in the forest, and is highly sensitive to daylight, noise and human contact. [Source: AFP, December 12, 2011]

Different species of tarsier are found in the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia. And populations in all these countries are listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as “decreasing”. The Philippine tarsier, or tarsius syrichta, is categorized as “near threatened”, while species in other countries are already “vulnerable”, “endangered” and “critically endangered”. There are only several hundred tarsiers left living in the wild on Bohol, according to the Philippine Tarsier Foundation.

New Species Of Shrew Discovered In the Palawan Highlands

The Palawan moss shrew (Palawanosorex muscorum) was identified as a new species on Mount Mantalingahan on Palawan Island, Philippines. Researchers from the Field Museum of Natural History described the species in a 2018 study published in the Journal of Mammalogy. The shrew was first observed in 2007 by field researcher Danilo “Danny” Balete and was found at an elevation of about 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). It has a slender, pointed snout, dark fur, a densely furred tail, broad forefeet and long claws. [Source: Asian Scientist, May 25, 2018]

The Palawan moss shrew lives in the humus, or organic soil layer, of the mountain forest, where it digs for earthworms. Its anatomical characteristics distinguish it from other known shrews. Mount Mantalingahan is considered a “sky island,” an isolated high-elevation environment with ecological conditions that differ from surrounding lowlands and mountains. Such isolated habitats can allow distinctive species to evolve and persist in relatively small areas.

The discovery added to evidence that Palawan has an unusually high concentration of unique mammal species. Researchers noted that Mount Mantalingahan itself is home to 3 distinctive mammal species, an unusually high number for a single mountain. The mountain is also an important watershed for Palawan, with its forest soils absorbing rainfall and releasing water gradually into lower areas. Protecting the mountain habitat therefore has implications beyond wildlife conservation, including maintaining water supplies and reducing the effects of flooding and drought.

Larry Heaney of the Field Museum said that protecting watersheds requires protecting the habitats that support them. Deforestation can increase runoff during typhoons, contributing to flooding and erosion, while reducing the amount of water available during dry periods. Researchers hoped that the discovery of the Palawan moss shrew would increase interest in Philippine biodiversity and encourage further scientific research and conservation. Heaney said the Philippines' exceptional mammalian diversity is something that people in the country should recognize and take pride in.

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Times of London, Lonely Planet Guides, Library of Congress, Philippines Department of Tourism, Compton’s Encyclopedia, The Guardian, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, Reuters, AP, AFP, Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic Monthly, The Economist, Foreign Policy, Wikipedia, BBC, CNN, and various books, websites and other publications.

Last updated August 2026