Most wildlife speciesin the animal kingdom are known to be territorial—they protect theirterritories from incursions by other species. Territorial boundaries may bemarked by sounds such as a bird song or scents secreted by the skin glands ofmammals. But when territories are invaded, conflicts may arise.
For years, the team of Born to be Wild has documentedviolent encounters when animal spaces are encroached by humans and vice versa.But can humans really co-exist with wildlife?
GMA Network’s formidable wildlife vets are back to visiting the wildestplaces to film the most amazing animal behaviors. Doc Ferds Recio goesto Palawan and Doc Nielsen Donato to Tawi-Tawi for anothernature expedition.
Doc Ferds tells how excited he is for the anniversary shoot and that hemissed preparing clothes for travel, “It is our first expedition after almosttwo years because of the pandemic. We’re here [in Palawan] for an extendedperiod of time doing how we used to do it, how we used to shoot Born,” heshares.
For Doc Nielsen, shooting for Born to be Wild has always been arefreshing experience. “I have looked forward to thiswork-travel-leisure-shoot. Since the pandemic, we weren’t able to shoot outsideLuzon and being able to board a plane again is really exciting.”
Both vets are ready to face the wildlife again in their natural habitat.But in some places, animals live near humans too. In Aborlan, Palawan,residents not only wake up to the humming of birds in the morning but also toplaying squirrels and flying lizards that freely wander in trees of nearbyhouses. Doc Ferds observes how both humans and animals co-exist where no one isharmed as they respectfully acknowledge each other's territory. But what he isalso thrilled about is the team’s attempt to film the Asian Small Clawed Otteror Dungon that live near a fishpond of a local resident.
“We made several attempts to film the Dungon in the past, but we failed.They are elusive. But a resident in Palawan confirmed that these animalsregularly visit his fishpond. So, we tried our luck again,” Doc Ferds reveals.
Meanwhile, Doc Nielsen has rescued and handled a number of crocodiles incaptivity. But he says nothing beats seeing a crocodile in its naturalhabitat. In Tawi-Tawi, where some residents live in stilts, crocodiles are aneveryday sight. But not all sightings are pleasant, some have been fatal. DocNielsen meets some family members of people who have been attacked bycrocodiles. Some have miraculously survived, unfortunately, some have died. Butdespite this, most residents still recognize the importance of crocodiles andthey respect their existence.
“Usually, when humans break boundaries from wildlife, it's destruction.mining, logging, claiming of the forest, putting structures by the seas butthat's not all the time. Sometimes people break boundaries to discover, tounderstand the behavior and the situation of wildlife—in the case ofscientists,” Doc Nielsen explains.
Doc Ferds shares that while there are sad stories on human-animalencounters, there is still good news to tell, “We acknowledge, that sometimesthere are really conflicts when humans and animals share the same space, but itis laudable to see that in many areas, people do not treat animals as threat orcompetition, people respect wildlife presence, they have learned to accept thatthey can share one territory.”
The two-part 14th anniversary special of Born to be Wild,“Breaking Territories,” airing time is at 9am on November21 and 28 on GMA Network. Kapuso abroad can catch it via GMA PinoyTV. GMA News