From deer hunter to deer breeder

The story of Eusebio "Totong" Catambay as an environmentalist never fails to impress conservationists and his townmates in Tanay, Rizal where he keeps house and breeds domesticated and wild animals — deer being the prized one — in Barangay Kaiboto. His reputation as deer breeder and provider of succulent deer meat has attracted academics and celebrities, too. He maintains a small wildlife sanctuary in his backyard.

Some years back , a professor from UP Los Baños sought his advice on wildlife conservation and deer breeding in the Philippines. Likewise, Eric Klug, an Austrian wildlife specialist paid him a visit to seek his advice on a government-planned deer farm in Davao. At about the same time, one of his bucks co-starred with movie king Fernando Poe Jr. in a San Miguel beer television commercial, hence the nickname "Ronnie Poe" for the prized deer. Totong was paid a handsome P5,000 for a one-day shoot.

The same buck played extra for a Hollywood movie shot in the Philippines starred in by Richard Norton who shot to fame playing "kontrabida" to Bruce Lee. Simply by dashing near the action star, "Ronnie Poe" took a fortune for his master: a whopping P25,000 talent fee. Among celebrity clients he remembers buying live deer or deer meat from him were Joey de Leon, Eddie Garcia, Manny Paner, then Rizal Provincial Commander Jewel Canson and businessman George Cancio.

He used to be a hunter. In 1982 when he was still a teenager, he joined his father and friends out for the big game although he preferred hunting for birds. His first encounter with wild animals was with a wild boar which he felled with a shotgun.

He was at it for many years before he realized the folly of his deed. Members of the deer family were getting so scarce that only the ones in the deep woods remained for the hunt. "I learned my lesson well," he says. "You can’t ask for more than what the environment can give. Overhunting spoils the balance of life in the wilds and eventually the deer would vanish from our forests."

His regular contacts with the Dumagats made him change his attitude towards wild animals, the deer particularly. He saw the highlanders feeding the deer with wild fruits and banana trunk core and told himself: "If they could tame the deer in the wild why can’t I do it at home."

And so, the deer hunter turned his sights into deer breeding. According to Totong, deer are sturdy and easy to breed; easy to feed, too and immune from diseases. In his many years of breeding deer, not a single one in his care had died of sickness.A normal deer diet consists of a combination of pineapple peelings, banana trunk core and citrus fruits which he harvests in his farm. For supplement, he gives his herd starter mash.

Deer are interesting animals: They can be a weather indicator. "I can tell if there would be a change in weather conditions when they are restive and are loudly moaning in the dead of night. Thanks to my neighbors they have gotten used to their noise."

Despite its being expensive, deer meat (prepared tapa style) demand exceeds supply. Whenever Totong runs out of supply, he seeks out the Dumagats to fill in the supply gap. A year-old costs from P15,000 to P20,000 depending on availability.

Totong believes that forest destruction, as well as overhunting are both to blame for the deer depopulation. Hopefully, there are still a lot of them, though not as many as they used to be. He says that most of them have moved farther and farther into the hinterlands to escape man’s destructive ways. That makes breeding an urgent task. Totong looks forward to the day when wild deer will be bred just like other domesticated food animals.