Why Do We Kill Our Wild Birds? WHERE HAVE ALL THE WILDLIFE GONE?

By Manny Pinol

There is something in us Filipinos which I could not really understand and this is the tendency to look at wildlife as either preys or threats which should be killed.

I can understand our dislike for snakes. It’s a natural reaction perhaps borne by endless stories about how deadly these reptiles area.

But what I do not understand is the desire of many of us to shoot and kill small birds which could not even be eaten.

Worse, even the treasured and endangered Philppine eagles are also being hunted.

Many years ago, I issued a very strict rule in my farm in Barangay Paco, Kidapawan City: Nobody should harm the birds which come to the farm.

This rule is being followed to the letter until today. There were several instances when wild birds would get entangled with the fish nets we have set up to confine our chicken and in all of those instances, the birds were set free.

I see the stark contrast between the way Filipinos look at wildlife and how the Americans continue to protect theirs.

The Americans hunt their deers, bears, ducks and other wildlife too. But there is a season for hunting and engaging in hunting outside of the season is a crime.

That is why during the off-hunting season, travellers could see herds of deer and flocks of wild ducks just by the side of the roads.

Last night, as I and my friend Dennis drove back to our hotel from the farm of my friend Jim Clem, he noticed a large herd of wild deer along the side of the road.

The deer felt safe and were obviously not threatened by the passing of humans in motor vehicles.

Could this happen in the Philippines?

I don’t think so.

Even the small wild quail would be chased and when caught would end up as a prized barbecue, however small the amount of meat is.

When will we learn to value our wildlife?

Something must be done to protect them now or else the future generation of Filipinos will just have to listen to the tales of how the small quail or “pitaw” looked like or how the wild Liguasan marsh egret called “dugwak” looked like.

Maybe we could start by convincing the so-called animal rights activists to focus their time and efforts on the protection of our wildlife rather than running after sabungeros who breed and raise hundreds of thousands of fighting roosters.

(Photo caption: Wild ducks enjoy the water in a small river in the outskirts of Klamath Falls City in Oregon. A herd of wild deer graze beside a highway in the boundaries of California and Oregon.)