DAVAO CITY – A colony of approximately 50,000 flying foxes was discovered by a team of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) Midsayap in a village in the municipality of Banisilan, Province of Cotabato.

In an interview on Thursday, Dec. 2, Adiel Pamikirin, Ecosystems Management Specialist and the team leader of the assessment-monitoring team of CENRO Midsayap said they were able to visit the site in Sitio Mapantao in Barangay Malagap in Banisilan last November 23.

He said based on their initial assessment "there is a high probability that Large Flying Fox (Pteropus vampyrus) and the endemic Golden-Crowned Flying Fox (Acerodon jubatus) which is known to be endangered within the roost."

He said the flying foxes looked like "grapes" hanging over the trees in the forest.

"Sa sobrang dami nila aakalain mong mga bunga ng kahoy (They were so many, you would think they are fruits on the trees)," he added.Pamikirin said the area where they found the flying foxes, locally known as "kabog" was forested, however, the adjacent area is already used for agriculture.

Pamikirin said the flying foxes were originally from the adjacent barangay in Guiling.

"Nakausap po namin yung kanilang Punong Barangay Jose Benedicto, sinabi niya na actually hindi daw sila doon naninirahan before itong mga flying foxes kundi doon sa katabing barangay nila sa Barangay Guiling. Kalaunan lumipat na sa kanilang barangay (We talked with Barangay Chairman Jose Benedicto and he said the flying foxes were originally found in the neighboring Barangay Guiling then later transferred to their barangay)," Pamikirin said.

He said that they cannot yet verify the cause of the transfer of the flying foxes to Barangay Malagap but said it might be due to the destruction of their previous natural habitat.

"Isa ring rason bakit sila lumipat siguro dahil dun sa dating tirahan nila maraming mga hunters na kumukuha sa kanila so na-feel nila na-threatened sila kaya siguro most probably doon sila pumunta sa Barangay Malagap (Another reason why they moved is probably due to the hunters in the area which threatened them)," he added.

"Pero wala pa pong definite na reason kaya nga kailangan pa ng isang malalim na pag-aaral para malaman natin yung biological and other factors kung bakit sila nasa area (But we still have no definite reason that's why we need to do more research on this to understand the biological and other factors why they are in the area)," Pamikirin said.

He said they are reminding the residents and the public that the flying foxes are important in keeping the balance of the ecosystem and that hunting wildlife is prohibited.

"Sila yung tagatanim natin sa gubat, kinakain nila yung mga seeds and then dini-disperse nila (They act as our reforesters by eating the seeds and dispersing them)," he said.

Pamikirin said they are very happy with the local initiative of the barangay for protecting the habitat of the flying foxes.

He said the local government unit of Barangay Malagap put up signs advising the public from hunting flying foxes and reminding them that the roosting site is a protected area.