There have been many catalogues issues with what has happened during the current virus Outbreak. Some of these have fascinated people, the the sudden re-emergence of wildlife back into spaces...
Philippine deer
The Philippine deer (Rusa marianna), also known as the Philippine sambar or Philippine brown deer, is a vulnerable deer species endemic to the Philippines. Sadly, like many other species of wildlife, this deer has been introduced elsewhere. Indeed, it was initially described from introduced populations in the Mariana Islands, hence the specific name. It is sad to think that there are wildlife which was moved outside its native range, before science arrived.
Four subspecies are currently recognized:
- R. m. marianna in Luzon biogeographic region
- R. m. barandana in Mindoro
- R. m. nigella in isolated upland areas of Mindanao
- R. m. nigricans in lowland sites of Mindanao
Its overall status is threatened (vulnerable).
The Philippine deer is endemic to the Philippines, where it occurs in the islands of Luzon, Polillo and Catanduanes, Mindoro, Samar, Mindanao and Leyte. It is possibly extinct in Biliran, Bohol and Marinduque. It has also been declared extinct in Dinagat and Siargao Islands.[ Across the country, its population is severely fragmented and reduced (though this seems a natural part of living within an island nation (looking at the map, it is clear that this species is also missing from many parts of its own country.
The Philippine deer generally thrives in a terrestrial environment from sea level up to at least 2900m (an oddly wide range – 3km up is quite a different habitat). It prefers to forage in grasslands under primary and secondary forests. However, due to forest denudation and excessive hunting, they are now found more often at altitude (this is likely due to being eliminated lower down, not as a preference for the extremes of their habitat). Unfortunately, even at these heights, the forests which they live in are firmly fragmented. It was also introduced to Guam in 1771-2 for recreational hunting. As often happens in this situation, not enough hunting went on, and being without a predator, it has greatly expanded, and is now a threat to indigenous ecosystems on Guam, and a whole host of islands in Micronesia (it is doing similar damage every where it is found).
There are several threats that contribute to the rapidly declining population of the Philippine brown deer. Habitat loss and fragmentation drive the deer to hide in the remaining patches of forest with scarce food to eat. While they forage in grasslands, the deer prefer forest shade as hiding places, especially during daytime. The deer also has low fertility, giving birth to a single fawn in each conception. This means that excessive hunting has a high tendency of declining their population. The deer is hunted for meat, usually sold at PhP150-250 per kilogram. Ethnoecological evidences also reveal that the antler of the deer aside from being a common household decoration, is also used to treat stomach ache, tooth ache, fever, etc. This is done by scratching the surface of the antler with a sharp object (e.g. knife), then adding the powder into a glass of water before drinking.
The deer was rare in 1994, data deficient (DD) in 1996, and vulnerable (VU) since 2008 up to present. This is because of the rapid population decline estimated to be more than 30% in the last 24 years or three generations due to excessive hunting, shrinkage in distribution, and habitat loss and fragmentation.
In prehistoric times, the Sunda island of Borneo might have been connected to Palawan during the penultimate and previous glacial events, judging from the molecular phylogeny of murids. In Palawan, two articulated phalanx bones of a tiger were found amidst an assemblage of other animal bones and stone tools in Ille Cave near the village of New Ibajay. The other animal fossils were ascribed to deer, macaques, bearded pigs, small mammals, lizards, snakes and turtles. From the stone tools, besides the evidence for cuts on the bones, and the use of fire, it would appear that early humans had accumulated the bones.
This evidence suggests that indeed this species would have had a larger range in the prehistoric range, likely not (for once) as a result of humans, though we may well have been a contributing factor once we arrived.
