Article archive
Spitting Cobra (Naja miolepis)
18/08/2012 14:44
I am not really that sure if this snake is a real cobra or just a mimic. It produces a hissing sound when approached.
The one featured here is a small one, about a little more than one foot in length. I trapped it using a stick and captured it for closer scrutiny. Bearing in mind that this is...
Chubby Frog (Kaloula pulchra)
18/08/2012 14:42
I was surprised to see this chubby frog in front of my door at one time. It was there, forcing its way through the narrow opening of the door. It looks like a different kind of frog to me so I took a picture and tried to find information about a similar-looking frog in Google. I typed "frog in...
Mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus)
18/08/2012 14:36
Many people especially those in the urban areas of Palawan are not aware of the existence of the mongoose in Palawan. Its range appears to be limited in the province as it is seldom seen.
A few years ago, while visiting a plantation project in the isolated place of Culasian in Bataraza south...
Flying Squirrel (Hylopetes nigripes)
18/08/2012 14:33
Some animals evolve remarkable features in order to adapt to its environment, increase its chance to survive, or just plain convenience. For some animals, features are developed allowing them to make life easier for them. Among these animals is the Palawan flying squirrel.
Although the...
Dwarf Otter (Amblonyx cinerea cinerea)
18/08/2012 14:32
My first encounter with the otter was when I was working in a crocodile conservation facility in Palawan at Irawan. Somebody from south Palawan brought an otter about two feet in length and placed it on a tub for us to see. I did not know that the otter is, in fact, difficult to encounter in the...
Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus ahoenobarbus)
18/08/2012 14:29
Migrant settlers settling and engaging in slash-and-burn farmin in the forested areas of Palawan had a hard time with the wild pigs (local name: baboy damo) feeding on and destroying their cassava crops in the process. To prevent further damage, the farmer settlers devised “pig bombs”...
Bearcat (Arctictis binturong whitei)
18/08/2012 14:28
The Palawan bearcat or binturong is one of Palawan's seldom encountered animals. This is because it is active at night. Despite the infrequent encounters, the bearcat population appears to decline because of the pressure of hunting; for meat, as pets, for its fur as well as medicinal uses....
Balabac Mouse Deer (Tragulus nigricans)
18/08/2012 14:25
The small mouse deer of Balabac is known in literature as chevrotain. The chevrotain does not have in any way a semblance to the deer family Cervidae but a separate Chevrotain family for groups of mammals that in French literally means “little goat”. They are more related to goats than deer.
The...
Cobra-Like Frog
18/08/2012 14:23
In August 2009, this cobra-like frog was found hiding amongst the litter when it was discovered by Jun, a laborer we hired to dig some holes to erect a fence next to our home in Puerto Princesa. Jun thought it was a cobra with part of its body embedded in the soil. We were a little bit...
Mangrove Snake (Boiga dendrophila)
18/08/2012 14:20
Is the mangrove snake another candidate for extinction?
Two decades back, while our research team surveyed several mangrove-lined rivers for crocodiles, the mangrove snake, blunt-headed tree snake or the gold-ringed cat snake (Boiga dendrophila), locally known as binturan, are usually...