Habitat loss remains top threat to Mindoro’s Tamaraws

CALAPAN CITY, Oriental Mindoro — The unchecked clearing of forests and grasslands for farms, housing, businesses, and infrastructure continues to push the critically endangered Tamaraw to the brink, conservation leaders warned.

The Mindoro Biodiversity Conservation Foundation Inc. (MBCFI) sounded the alarm during the Kapihan sa PIA Oriental Mindoro forum on September 29, noting that the dwindling and fragmentation of natural habitats is the single biggest threat to the endemic dwarf buffalo.

MBCFI Executive Director Kathy Lene S. Cielo stressed that the Tamaraw’s low reproductive rate makes preserving what remains of its living space all the more urgent.

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The latest figures from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources show a modest population rise: 425 Tamaraws counted in the Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park in 2026, up from 380 in 2025.

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Yet DENR also confirmed that forest degradation, habitat fragmentation, and agricultural expansion persist as serious, human-driven dangers.

Cielo urged strict limits on converting the species’ home ranges.

“Kung dati po itong grassland, kung dati na po itong forest land, huwag na po sana natin gawing mga agricultural areas, huwag na po sana natin gawing bahayan, mga business areas o dagdagan pa ng mga infrastructure,” Cielo said during the media forum.

(These used to be grasslands. These used to be forest lands — let us no longer convert them into agricultural areas, residential zones, business districts, or add more infrastructure.)

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Even with the population concentrated in the Mounts Iglit-Baco core, shrinking space risks long-term harm — including inbreeding and genetic weakness as the herd grows within a confined territory, Cielo said.

She also warned against allowing livestock into critical Tamaraw ranges. Diseases carried by cattle and carabaos could prove devastating, recalling how rinderpest historically drove massive Tamaraw declines.

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MBCFI is partnering with communities, indigenous peoples, and forest rangers through training and patrols to boost protection.

But success, Cielo said, depends on broad public support — and giving the Tamaraw room to rebound.

“Dapat po ay lumawak na po kung saan po sila dapat naninirahan,” Cielo said.

(The areas where they live must be allowed to expand.)

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The call aligns with national conservation strategies that seek to embed Tamaraw safeguards in all local land-use plans, and deepen coordination between government, communities, and conservation groups. /gsg