The call of Calauit

MANILA, Philippines - When I got an invitation to visit Northern Palawan from Cesar Cruz, president of the Philippine Tour Operators Association, I knew it was a trip I wanted to take.

I had read so much about and seen so many pictures of the awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping and heart-stopping wonders of nature in Palawan that if an opportunity came to go island hopping there, I was ready to take it.

While I will write about that adventure in a future article, there was one destination in the Northern Palawan trip that I had long wanted to see — Calauit Island. Growing up in the ’70s I had heard about how then President Marcos set aside the island of Calauit to let some African wildlife run free.

But there is so much more history to Calauit’s Wildlife Park that I discovered — and that allowed me to see just how important preserving their sanctuary is for the animals that now inhabit the area.

We were told by Froilan Sariego, park manager of the Calauit Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, that Calauit Island was declared a game preserve and wildlife sanctuary in 1977 as the Philippines responded to an appeal by the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to save endangered animals in Africa.

He added that the Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary is a natural area where the entire environment and all the plants and animals are allowed to live in a natural state with the absolute minimum of human interference or disturbance.

In keeping with the need to keep the sanctuary as healthy when we left as when we came, we were asked to avoid littering and to make sure that we followed the sanctuary’s rules.

Calauit has an area of 3,700 hectares and it has become home to both endemic animals and African wildlife.

When the sanctuary opened, Sariego said, there were eight species of African animals from Kenya, which included giraffes, zebras, impalas, waterbucks, bushbacks, gazelles, elands and topis.

Today, the African animals live in harmony with endemic Philippine animals like the Calamian deer — and mousedeer, bearcat, Palawan peacock pheasant, sea turtles and Philippine crocodile.

Through the years, the number of animals has increased to more than 600.

Sariego, who has worked in Calauit for almost 20 years, speaks very proudly of the work that the people behind the sanctuary have been able to do.  After all, they have been able to get African animals and Philippine animals to love and graze in harmony. It is this harmonious relationship between the animals that has left many a visitor in awe of the sanctuary.

Calauit is also a haven for more than 70 species of birds, of which 10 are endemic. They rest and flock two hours before sunset, after their whole-day flight.

As we walked through the sanctuary, we were able to come in close proximity to some zebras and giraffes. I must admit that I, too, softened on my usually strong stance that animals in the wild should be left in the wild.

I thought to myself, these African animals would probably be dead or extinct if they were let out in the wild now.  It seemed to me that the African animals have become “Pinoy” animals — after all, most of those in Calauit now are island-bred and have never been to Africa.

It was easy for us to feed the friendly giraffes that came when we had branches of leaves from the bakawang gubat (Maluandit) trees for them to eat. Sariego told us that the giraffes consider these leaves treats and come when they hear the rustling of the leaves.

The only warning I heard that afternoon was not to get too close to the zebras because they are known to kick people who get too close.

Calauit is an ideal sanctuary because of its relative isolation. The forests, grasslands and mangrove swamps are also the habitat of some of the country’s rarest and most endangered species.

It was just a bit sad that the sanctuary is undergoing some problems, one of which is the lack of any communication facilities. The other is the lack of any form of transportation.

We went to Calauit by boat because it is the only means available by which to access the sanctuary. The vehicles that were used to bring visitors around the island have all broken down now.

I left Calauit wildlife sanctuary with mixed feelings. I wished for freedom for the animals, yet at the same time I could see that Sariego is such a caring and hands-on head of the sanctuary — he has been there for so long that he seems to care for the animals as if they were his own children.

After listening to Sariego and watching him in the Calauit Sanctuary, I felt I had nothing to fear because these animals are getting the best care they could ever get.