ANTIPOLO City, Rizal – A resident from an upland barangay in this component city accidentally caught an animal which according to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) forms part of the list classified as a highly endangered rat species, according to the City Veterinary Office.
Locally referred to as Bugkon – the largest known rat species in the country – it was reportedly recovered from the ceiling of the house of a certain Gena Richards in Sitio Junction, Tagbac, Barangay San Jose.
Web-based sources also showed that cloud rats could only be found in the Philippines
"Endangered na po ang kanilang lahi kaya kung may mamataan po kayong kaparehong hayop sa inyong tahanan o sa inyong lugar, huwag itong papatayin o sasaktan,” Ynares appealed to local folks.
“Pwede kayo tumawag sa CVO hotline (8689-4514) o agad magtungo sa pinakamalapit na bulwagan ng barangay.”
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified cloud rats as a critically endangered species which are threatened with habitat loss and human encroachment due to the extensive deforestation in the country.
Larger species of cloud rats (Phloeomys and Crateromys spp.) are also hunted for food, usually by hunter-gatherer tribes in the mountains. In some areas, they are the most commonly hunted species and hundreds of animals are estimated to be killed annually.
Hunting or possession of wildlife is illegal in the Philippines, under Republic Act 9147 (the Wildlife Protection and Conservation Law of 2001).
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