By Teofilo Garcia, Jr.
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) said the pair of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogaleperspicillata) reported in May in Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi, surprised the residents last week when they emerged from their den accompanied by three pups.
DENR-Region 9 executive director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez said it was the
first time that the otters, locally known as “HanjingLaut”, were seen outside
their normal area of distribution.
“Studies indicate that smooth-coated otters are originally from Malaysia and
Indonesia and it is just surprising to know that they have now reached Taganak
Island,” Rodriguez said in a statement Thursday.
The municipality of Turtle Islands, called Taganak by locals, is located within
the Sulu Sea at the south-western tip of the country and at the edge of the
international treaty limits separating the Philippines and Malaysia.
Rodriguez said Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary (TIWS) Protected Area
Superintendent Minda Bairula reported to her that the residents spotted the
otters with their pups frolicking in the sand.
Bairula said it was on July 31 that a resident living near the shoreline
reported to their office that she heard sounds of newly-born animals coming
from the den of the otters.
It was only on August 17 that a Protected Area Management Office (PAMO) staff
spotted the baby otters coming out from the den.
Rodriguez said with the help of the Turtle Island policemen, DENR personnel
managed to video-document the parent otters and the pups playing along the
shoreline.
“I have also instructed Bairula, who is on site, to record the biology, habits,
and behavior of the otters and continue coordinating with our office as we are
also consulting with experts from the Biodiversity Management Bureau and the
International Union on the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Otter Specialist
Group,” Rodriquez said.
She also said her office is constrained from sending technical experts to
Turtle Islands to conduct further studies on the otters because of the limited
trips, transportation, and quarantine protocols due to the prevailing
coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
The residents in Turtle Islands first reported the sighting of two
smooth-coated otters playing in their shoreline on May 14, which stirred
curiosity as it was the first time that they have seen the animals on their
island.
Turtle Islands or Taganak is part of the Turtle Islands Wildlife Sanctuary,
which is Southeast Asia’s largest marine turtle sanctuary and a declared
protected area under Republic Act 11038, otherwise known as the Expanded
National Integrated Protected Areas System Law. (PNA)