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Giant Frugivorous Monitor Lizards in the Philippines Daniel Bennett

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Giant Frugivorous Monitor Lizards in the Philippines Daniel Bennett Giant Frugivorous Monitor Lizards in the Philippines Daniel Bennett. Leeds University, UK ([email protected]) Report on work sponsored by the BP Conservation Programme 1 PROJECT SUMMARY ...........................................................................................4 PROJECT BACKGROUND ...................................................................................5 SURVEYS ACROSS THE PHILIPPINES...................................................................................................... 6 Summary ........................................................................................................................................................... 6 Background ....................................................................................................................................................... 7 Panay ................................................................................................................................................................. 8 Camiguin Norte ................................................................................................................................................ 8 Alabat ................................................................................................................................................................ 8 Mount Makiling, Luzon ................................................................................................................................... 9 Rizal Province, Luzon ...................................................................................................................................... 9 Sierra Madre, Luzon......................................................................................................................................... 9 RESEARCH ON POLILLO ..................................................................................11 Study site......................................................................................................................................................... 11 STUDY TECHNIQUES FOR GFLS......................................................................12 Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 12 Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Capture of Individuals.................................................................................................................................... 14 The Importance of Non-Intrusive Methodologies........................................................................................ 14 Feces..................................................................................................................................................................... 15 Summary ......................................................................................................................................................... 15 Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Methods........................................................................................................................................................... 15 Results ............................................................................................................................................................. 16 Camera and Video Camera Traps and Direct Observation....................................................................... 21 Background ..................................................................................................................................................... 21 Equipment and Methodology......................................................................................................................... 21 Results ............................................................................................................................................................. 24 Education, Training and Development.......................................................................................................... 28 CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................30 Effects of fragmentation and degradation..................................................................................................... 30 Hunting............................................................................................................................................................ 32 FUTURE WORK...................................................................................................33 Developing a Diet for Captive Animals........................................................................................................ 33 Molecular Studies of Feces ............................................................................................................................ 34 On Polillo ........................................................................................................................................................ 35 In Sierra Madre............................................................................................................................................... 35 Elsewhere........................................................................................................................................................ 35 Team Members 2005-2006 ............................................................................................................................... 36 Thanks................................................................................................................................................................. 36 2 Financial Account.............................................................................................................................................. 37 REFERENCES .....................................................................................................38 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................40 Notes on Sibalom Natural Park Survey, Antique, Panay............................................................................. 41 Investigation into the Population Status of Varanus olivaceus in Alabat Island, Quezon Province......... 45 Report on the occurrence of fruit-eating monitor lizard in the Northern Sierra Madre National Park..... 47 3 PROJECT SUMMARY We have developed a range of non-intrusive techniques to investigate the ecology and population biology of fruit-eating monitor lizards in the Philippines. We have investigated the status of the animals in various parts of Luzon and conclude that they no longer exist in many areas as a result of large-scale deforestation and are now restricted to fragmented forest in eastern Luzon. Small isolated populations also exist on Polillo and Alabat Islands in Quezon Province. A new form of fruit-eating monitor lizard was discovered in the Sierra Madre mountains whose taxonomic status is currently under study. Work on Polillo Island has concentrated on identifying key resources for lizards in degraded forests, comparing population structure in habitats of different quality and examining the animals’ role in the dispersal of Pandanus and Canarium seeds. Populations persist in moderately degraded forest if suitable shelter trees are present and key fruit resources available for at least part of the year, but these populations occur at higher densities and contain very few adult males. Where corridors of non cultivated land exist between patches they are utilised by the lizards. Evidence was collected suggesting the lizards are responsible for almost all uphill dispersal of Pandanus seeds and therefore play an important role in the maintenance of microhabitats that are essential to many endemic plants, animals and fungi. In May 2006 an Animal Planet documentary about the lizards and their plight on Polillo was released and shown world-wide. 4 Important Note: CLASSIFIED INFORMATION Early in this study it became apparent that some discoveries about the distribution patterns of giant frugivorous monitor lizards had the potential to be misused and lead unscrupulous people to places where they would most easily be able to catch the animals. For this reason the specific identification of certain tree species have been withheld. I will supply the information on request to bona fide fieldworkers PROJECT BACKGROUND Giant frugivorous lizards (GFL) occur only in the Philippine Islands. They are an evolutionary and ecological oddity because they are obligate fruit eaters, extremely large (>9kg/180cm) and belong to a family of lizards whose other members are exclusively carnivorous. Despite their size they are extremely secretive animals. Only two species of GFL are known to science, one (Varanus mabitang) was discovered in 2001 and the other (V.olivaceus) was described in 1845 but had been the subject of a single study in the 1970s using destructive methodologies that are now considered unacceptable. Both are of high conservation concern because of their fragile niches and inability to survive outside their rapidly dwindling habitat of lowland
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