Wildlife isn’t supposed to be commercialized

                My trip to Bohol taught me one thing – commercialization of wildlife doesn’t make sense at all. I’ve never been so aggressive on this matter before but after seeing those poor wild animals in the cage, I wished for their liberty. I wished the greedy human race grant them freedom. I wish Homo sapiens would be merciful and sympathetic. This is the problem with us, we think of the economic benefits neglecting the impacts of our actions to biodiversity.

                They ask for entrance fee for the acquisition of facilities and materials needed to provide “humane” care. But what I saw isn’t the supposed reality. The display of those poor creatures is depressing. The Philippine tarsier is the face of Bohol Island, a spectacular island of the Visayas with astonishing beauty of nature. Talk about Bohol, people would start telling you of either the chocolate hills or tarsier. And I have to tell it here as well, forests in Mindanao harbour the same primate. The guides were telling us that tarsiers are nocturnal, meaning they are active during the night and sleep during the day. They are very territorial and very sensitive to stress. And other blah blah blahs. Ok I got it, they are endangered and the potential threat against their survival is the rapid habitat deforestation in the area. Fortunately, this aspect has already been given the apt attention. And the hope of survival is no longer as dim as before.

                I was in awe. Those guides tell us of these tarsiers being so sensitive to stress and that they are much more willing to bang their heads and kill themselves. And there we are offering a probable source of stress, a possibility of triggering those primates to go banging and start killing themselves. I start questioning myself, “Does having them for public display bring greater good to their survival in the wild?”

                I should be honest. I don’t like seeing animals in the cage for public display. Yes, I know. Those are for educational purposes. In hope of inculcating the essence of these animals to the large population and to develop in them the sense of responsibility to protect them, education is indeed essential. But I perfectly abhor when humans are acting inhumane. Think about those small cages with very limited space for movement.

                And so, in hope that my space for my note would have little sense, I offer this for those poor fellows on display. And I hope, by this, I helped.