Rare animals caught on camera for the first time
- Published
d'cruzeandsawyer.jpg.webp)
The forests in the Philippines are so thick that conservationists found it really hard to explore the undergrowth but eventually they saw the island's spotted deer.
d'cruzeandsawyer.jpg.webp)
The warty pigs are really hard to capture on film because they are almost invisible because the forest is so thick.
d'cruze-1.jpg.webp)
Only a few hundred warty pigs are believed to remain in the wild because of hunting. A rescue station has been set up by the Negros Forest and Ecological Foundation (NFEFI) to care for animals that are found injured by hunters.
Dr D'Cruze works for the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA), his team had to climb over 1,500m to set up cameras to capture the rare animals.
d'cruze-1.jpg.webp)
Negros is one of just three islands in the Philippines where the two rare animals live in the wild. And even though the northern forests are protected the animals are still often hunted for sport and are in danger of being driven to extinction.
One of the photographers broke his foot on the steep, muddy terrain and said trekking in the forest was "very tough".
The forest is so hard to explore because it covers rough terrain and conservationists believe the more easily accessible, lower areas should be protected first as they are under the greatest pressure of being damaged.
The team followed one simple rule in the forest - take nothing but photos and leave nothing but footprints. They didn't make a big camp and slept in hammocks.
The forests of the Philippines are home to many other species that occur nowhere else on Earth, including the endangered Hazel鈥檚 forest frog.