The young Tamaraw, Kali at San Jose, Mindoro
I enjoyed a night of rest at Villa Paulina Resort and glad I didn’t have to wake up too early on my second day in Mindoro. This time we’re going into the mainland up towards the north western part of San Jose to get up close to see the rare Philippine Tamaraws. The Tamaraws are endangered species of buffalo, scientifically known as bubalis mindorensis. They can only be found in the Philippines and endemic to Mindoro Island. It’s gonna be an exciting day. My service from Villa Paulina drove me early at 7am to another resort, Sikatuna where I’ll have breakfast and meet my companions for this trip.
Passing by the rugged beauty of the Fire Mountain
I met with Mar at Sikatuna Resort where we had breakfast. Later, Lyanne, Lou and Mam Lina others from the De Lemos family at Villa Paulina soon followed. We were all excited for this trip since we would be getting up close to one very rare animal species along with some surprises along the way. Soon, our ride, an open Jeep arrived and came along is Rodel, one of the members of Tamaraw Conservation Program (TPC). He told us snippets of the process on their conservation.
Crossing the Cable Bridge at Baranggay Monte Claro
We moved out before 9am. Rodel left us but we were accompanied by the head coordinator of TPC, Mr Danilo Roca. It was around an hour’s ride towards Barangay Monte Claro where the Tamaraw Gene Pool, the breeding ground and head office of the TPC is located. Once we got out of the city, we navigated through rough and dusty roads heading to Monte Claro. We made a brief stop mid our journey on the road to view what the locals call the Fire Mountain. It was a beautiful rugged mountain with ember peaks resembling the flames of fire. It was a popular destination for mountain climbers in San Jose, Mar said as he had climbed it many years before.
View from the cable bridge
An hour passed, we have finally reached our jump off at Barangay Monte Claro. We dusted off of the road dust which have somehow covered our clothes and skins and headed to the Tamaraw Gene Pool office. But wait, we had to cross a bridge first to pass over a river. What made this bridge exciting was it was a cable bridge and only a couple more wire on the sides to keep your balance. It was fun traverse actually. In truth this is just one option since you can cross on the river on foot. But when the water is high, people use this cable bridge to get across.
A short hike under the sun
The Tamaraw Gene Pool center is your typical provincial office. It to look more like a rural wooden walled school, but houses the members of TPC and also a learning ground for more information about Tamaraw conservation. The TCP which was established in 1979 is an independent organization. We registered here, did a briefing and soon hiked for a few minutes to find an enclosure where there are two Tamaraws held captive for study.
Desensitizing upon entrance and exit
We had to sanitize the soles of our footwear before we entered a large enclosure where they kept two tamaraws. Since these territorial creatures have acute senses, we can’t leave any trace of our scents in the area. They are so territorial that the two tamaraws there are kept on two separate enclosures large enough for them to roam around. We met Kali, the young and energetic Tamaraw and the mild Mimi on the other enclosure who is mother to Kali. I was actually expecting tamaraws to be huge creatures but they are actually cute and small like pokemons about 60-70% the size of a common full grown Carabao (Water Buffalo) . The tamaraws are also characterized by the unique v-shaped horns.
Viewing the Captive Kali
I was sad to learn that their numbers have decreased to an alarming 265, including the two in captivity, whereas they were more than a thousand 10 years ago. TCP head coordinator Danilo Roca explained that the large decrease in numbers was brought by a spread of disease from imported cattle, deforestation and also poaching since a tamaraw’s head fetches for a large sum of money. The TCP and also the local government are closely monitoring the tamaraws by doing regular counts and studying their breeding patterns in order to preserve and hopefully add their numbers.
The Tamaraw Kali, feeding
I was really proud and happy to have an opportunity to see a living tamaraw. It is very rare and only 1 out of 100 can claim they have seen one, even less. Before in the 90′s I only got familiar with them through the Philippine 1 peso coin. While I would like to see them in the wild which entails climbing the peaks of nearby Mt Iglit and Baco, and viewing them from afar through the telescope, I’m quite contented seeing kali and Mimi in their good health in captivity. I just hope that their numbers continue to grow and the TCP would get all the help needed in preserving these precious animals.
Thanks for posting this, I was wondering when you would
Unforgettable experience talaga yung pag tulay sa cable wire bridge but once you get to see the tamaraws, its very rewarding. I like how you compared them to a pokemon hahah napatawa ko bigla dun! Its like you want to keep them in an egg an into your pocket, they’re cute 
I really hope they could preserve these endangered species.
very distinct looking pala yung horns ng tamaraw… thanks for sharing bai!
that’s one of my wish to see the philippine tamaraws. i remember you sharing about this ferdz and ill take note of your notes on how to get there. today it’s a 1 out of 100 ratio. sooner it might even lower.
Hi Ferdz,
We might be going to San Jose. Occidental Mindoro National College this month. Do you know how far from the city are the islands you showed in ironwolf? We might have sometime for lakwatsa. Thanks.
BTW, scientific names are written with the first letter of the 1st word (Genus) in capital letter and the 2nd word (species) are all small letters. Sometimes even the best writers don’t know this too, dont worry, but it is a sin for us in the sciences to commit that mistake, hehe!
PS. Di ba binago na ang scientific name ng tamaraw from Anoa mindorensis to Bubalis mindorensis kasi daw Anoa is a subspecies of Bubalis. Thanks.
Hi Lyanne! Hahaha. Yeah I remember our cable bridge crossing there. Onga eh, di ko inexpect na ganun size nya kaya mukha nga syang pokemon. I really hope as well they preserve and grow their numbers.
Yup Allan! Kaya poachers wants them because their head is worth a lot, and I mean really big money.
True Dom, I hope we don’t reach that point where the ratio lessens.
Hi Andrea! The Islands Manadi and Ilin can be reached less than an hour from San Jose while Ambulong may take at least an hour. Thanks as well for taking note of the error.
Thanks for sharing this amigo. For the younger generation, malamang sa hindi, ang recall ng Tamaraw is the AUV, not the carabao endemic to Mindoro. It is indeed a rare privilege to have come up close to one.Even visitors to Mt. Baco are not as privileged to come this close, panay nakikita ko sa documentaries, through binoculars lang.
there was one thing that my teacher really taught me that time, it was about visiting the places that are native to your area and then the world. There is really no point that I could ever admire the world without visiting first your areas…
I really like the pictures protrayed in this article, love the carabao! 
hehehe 
It seems that it is really nice documenting the travels, I have mine at Baraaza
Is it possible to breed a herd of them in captivity and reintroduce them in the wild to revitalize their number? I supposed poaching and deforestation have to be stopped first. Given the tract record of our government, baka ito ang tinatawag na “suntok sa buwan.”
If the cable bridge is any higher and there’s a wider, raging river below, I don’t care if Britney Spears is waiting for me at the other end – I am not crossing LOL.
love the tamaraw pics. thanks for sharing them. i have never seen a tamaraw in my life.
panalo yung cable bridge ah. =p
BertN, actually it’s really possible!
I have seen a lot of farmers here in the province doing the same thing! 
I don’t know what they say to the carabaos… but while in captivity, they are nursed, and when released to the wild they are actually guided by an elder carabao 
It’s cool actually.. 
I have been visiting my friends in the province but it’s still recent that I have seen this kind of growing the carabao… 
I’ve shared with with my friends with a review in Baraaza
[...] ate our packed lunch there at the Tamaraw Gene Pool Center after visiting the captive Tamaraws Kali and Mimi. It was a simple packed lunch which we ate kamotan style (with our barehands) there at the outdoors [...]
[...] You’ll go off on Exciting Adventures. Driving through rough and dusty roads, we headed to Barangay Monte Claro, northeast of San Jose City proper to get up close to the rare Tamaraws. This endangered species of buffalo, scientifically known as Anoa Mindorensi, can only be found in the Philippines and is endemic to Mindoro Island. [...]
crossing the bridge looks fun, I think we passed by something like that on our way to Pandan Island.