Philippine spotted deer

Hunting has played a significant role in the life of the Ati people. Unfortunately, the Visayan spotted deer is highly endangered and critically decreasing in population due to deforestation and hunting. The species is now restricted to only 5% of its original range, and is one of the rarest mammals in the world.

Endangered (Population decreasing)

Important role in global conservation efforts They bred very successfully and their young went on to populate many other European zoos. The breeding of Visayan spotted deer is coordinated by a European Endangered Species Programme (EEP).

Conservation Status Threats: Habitat loss (due to agriculture and logging) and resulting fragmentation of populations, hunting. The estimated total population less than 2,500 animals.

The Philippine mouse-deer (Tragulus nigricans), also known as the Balabac chevrotain or pilandok (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palawan in the Philippines.

Pudu

It is small in size- measuring from 40 to 50 centimeters with a height of 18 centimeters at its shoulders. It has an overall dark brown color with white stripes at its throat and chest. This makes the pilandok hard to spot when it is hiding among the trees and bushes.

Chevrotains, or mouse-deer, are small even-toed ungulates that make up the family Tragulidae, the only extant members of the infraorder Tragulina. Chevrotains are the smallest hoofed mammals in the world.

The mouse deer is found in deciduous or semi-evergreen forests where the temperature is not as cold as the arctic region and hence they have less fur. Thus, the mouse deer can not survive in the arctic due to less fur in its body which cannot protect it from the very cold environment in the arctics.

mouse-deer

The mouse deer’s length is between 40-50 cm from head to tail, and its average height is 18 cm up to the shoulders. The male pilandok has no horns and uses only canine teeth on the upper jaw to fight other males. This solitary and nocturnal animal is primarily vegetarian but there is no formal study done on its diet.

Not extinct

Pilandok, the trickster mouse deer, whose tales must have tickled the fancy of poets and folklorists in the past three decades—first as the centerpiece of Rivera’s “Tales,” then as the hero of poet Virgilio Almario’s children’s story for a new generation and of the animated film “Pilandok and the Crocodiles.”

story details Pilandok wanting to cross a deep river filled with crocodiles. on a mission to inform the sultan how many crocodiles were in the river. consternation of the reptiles, before he trotted away. ending in the merchant’s being drowned in the sea in Pilandok’s stead.

Each story emphasized that he always won against the oppressors or colonizers. He used his wittiness to trick them by his cunning and dodgy words. It was beyond the imagination of the colonizers that Pilandok could defeat them because they looked at him, mere a commoner, stupid.

Setting: Datu’s Kingdom Maranao Sea Plot (Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, Denouement) Exposition Pilandok who tricked a Datu was spotted and was ordered to capture by the guards. Rising Action The merchant approached Pilandok and offered to trade places with him.

Trickster tale, in oral traditions worldwide, a story featuring a protagonist (often an anthropomorphized animal) who has magical powers and who is characterized as a compendium of opposites.

Virgilio Almario