Be sure to catch this show with your children at Enchanted Kingdom, by the Jungle Outpost. Isa Garchitorena's Wildlife Experience. It's a good show, brief, engaging, with lots of impact... Mostly reptile photos as my photographer failed to take clear shots of the cute little owl and hedgehog! You must absolutely go see them yourself.
If by some fluke you have been following this blog, you would have gathered by now that we are into bird watching. However "educational" they are labeled, we stay away from "bird shows" and "exotic animal" shows where they keep the creatures caged in not so happy habitats. I don't particularly enjoy seeing birds being made to pedal bikes or do such tricks, for example. It can be amusing to children, but teaches them nothing about preservation of the animals' natural behaviours and habitats.
This company obviously aims to educate us about wildlife; and you can tell by listening to Isa that they really care (seriously they have the credentials...she is like our very own Jane Goodall). It is really important how they stress that these are not to be kept as "pets" in the home or apartment. That was one point in my video posted earlier--the iguana I saw in the laundry area of my apartment in Makati was surely an escaped pet...or a pet that was purposely let loose by its owner. You gain respect for the creatures, which in turn makes you hopefully consider them each time you toss something in the trash or even choose what to eat :-O
In the half a year I spent traveling to and from Kuala Lumpur some eight years ago, I heard the term "green lungs" often. KL's valley-location makes it vulnerable to polluted air hovering over it...and it seemed news features frequently reminded Malaysians of the importance of their "green lungs"--areas lush with trees and plants located in the city center and the surrounding suburbs.
Back to my own reality from the KL stay, I grew increasingly obssessed with the pocket of green behind our rented apartment. It was in Guadalupe Viejo, Makati City. Years before I had tried to put an end to the burning of leaves that happened weekly in the garden directly behind us. I phoned the seminary it belonged to, I reported the situation directly to the MMDA (Metro Manila Development Authority) chairman, whose headquarters, ironically, were just across the compound, with EDSA between them. I sent them an information booklet from the Mother Earth foundation to provide alternatives to the burning. I began with friendly phone calls, and ended with angry pleas. For a while, something happened, one of those efforts worked.
Just perhaps two years before we moved out, I somehow found an ad selling the huge property next to the seminary. I studied the ad and with the help of Google Earth, found that the property was actually the only existing green space of that size in the area. It even had a small body of water. It was most likely the habitat for all the creatures I observed. I can't tell you how I wished I was a billionaire with money to spare for that tract of land. I remember making a note to try and enter the skyscraper next to it to view the land from the air. Obssessive, excessive, right. It must have been the lack of oxygen. I even played around with shooting wildlife---with cameras.
Recently news also featured the squirrels in Dasmarinas and Forbes Villages in Makati, as well as birds that have been seen in such urban settings. So it's not as if the wildlife is gone.
For that place, with excess funds, I wanted a sort of learning destination. I envisioned an urban garden-museum-school-whatever. A fantasy, really. I also just wanted those creatures to still have their home. I also tried learning more about that area's past. Were there residents along the banks, could we dig and find artifacts...the church at Guadalupe is supposed to have had steps leading all the way to the Pasig. What did that hill look like long ago?
Now I again find something about that property. A condominium tower is being built (or is it finished) on it. It was inevitable...sayang. Who am I to say this though, I'm no urban planner, no ecosystem expert.
This is a sentimental post for me. I know it can sound insane. I guess it's the lack of sunshine, the vitamin D deficiency...the gloom and sadness of the flooding and too much rain.
One of the first friends to welcome us were of the feathery kind. I have photos to dig up of the Sunbirds who regularly fed on the flowers two years ago, I have videos of yellow and black Orioles. There are kingfishers on trees surrounding the pool. They must have moved to Nuvali. Even during their "season", this past year, they were not around as much. I do hope it has nothing to do with the new roads, the loss of tall grass habitat, more of our species. Sadly, I think it does.
