Rescuing a colugo
From time to time, we tell you about colugos – whether it is about the species itself or our research focused on it. A few weeks ago, we showed you on Facebook a short video where local people were rescuing a colugo. It’s a bit of a broader topic, so we decided to give you a few more words about it. However, to fully understand the topic, let’s remind ourselves what colugos are. And later on we will also tell you how rescuing a colugo should look like.
The gliding mammal
Contrary to what you might assume based on the name, it doesn’t fly. These animals are close to the group to which we belong to, Primates. The two currently living species (in addition to the Philippine colugo, there is a Malaysian one) belong to a separate order, Dermoptera. They are herbivores and do not fly, but glide. This is made possible by the skin fold between their limbs (scientifically called the ‘patagium’), which they spread out as they glide, allowing them to move between distant trees. This can be seen very late in the afternoon, when colugos become active, as they are a crepuscular or nocturnal animal (how does the activity mode vary? Well, another thing to investigate!) More about colugos here.
Their most important evolutionary adaptation is their greatest disadvantage?
The title of the section captures the seriousness of the situation. This is because we are evolving very fast. We build roads, houses and these need electricity. Depending on the size of the human population in a given place, we see more or fewer power lines. Those built in the natural habitats of many animals can cause their death.
During last year’s survey, we witnessed as many as (!!) three dead colugos in the span of two weeks alone. All of them were victims of electricity. This is due to their gliding mode of locomotion. Especially at night, it is more difficult for these animals to notice these lines. At the same time, gliding is not a flight and the animal’s ‘room for manoeuvre’ is limited when it spots an obstacle already in motion.
At this point, we are not able to tell you exactly what the scale of this threat. We are not able to, because we are in the middle of a study. We started this year in the villages of Lundag and Katipunan in the municipality of Anda. However, we will continue in more villages (and islands!) already in the coming years. Only then will we tell you to what exact extent the power lines are a problem for the species.
Rescuing a colugo in Subayon
Just because a colugo gets caught in power lines does not yet have to spell doom for it. We witnessed this a few weeks ago when villagers in Subayon rescued such an unfortunate animal. Our friend and also partner of the Kahibalo Foundation, Mariz, told us what happened. A couple of weeks ago, she woke up at around 6 a.m. and heard three men talking about a colugo. From their discussion, Mariz deduced that the animal was already dead.
She therefore went out to check it. It then turned out that the colugo was alive after all! The rescue operation then began. One of the men ran for a bamboo stick (bamboo is not a good conductor of electricity). This action required a lot of effort, because such a long stick weighs a bit and is difficult to manoeuvre. Obviously, the aim was to ‘give’ the colugo an object onto which it could move. It could then be moved to a safe place in a tree. A person with a sheet stood under the animal to provide a ‘safety cushion’ in the event of a fall.
The whole action was a success! The “safety cushion” was not even necessary. It took some time, but the animal was safely transported to a patch of a forest. From there, the unlucky animal glided its way forward.
Rescuing a colugo in practice
As you can see, if you want to, you can help nature without such enormous efforts. If any of you, readers, ever find such an unfortunate individual, the steps are as follows:
- Find at least two people to help
- Look for a long object that WILL NOT be a good conductor of electricity
- Secure (or ask another person to do so) the area under the animal so that if it falls, it lands on soft ground
- Have thick gloves or a thick layer of cloth ready if you happen to come into contact with a colugo – when stressed, it bites badly!
- Choose a safe place from which several directions will be available for a colugo to move on its own
- Transfer the animal and leave it at peace
Done! Colugo rescued!
Education is a key!
As Mariz wrote us, this action took place because she knows how important nature is. Through the years of the project in the village of Subayon, Filip and colleagues have had many conversations with the residents about nature and its importance. As you can see, this is having an effect. We will continue to do so too, as this is the mission of the Kahibalo Foundation.
We know that colugos are not well perceived by locals in many parts of the Philippines. This is a challenge to change that. And as part of these educational activities, we need to show how to carry out such rescue operations. And to encourage them! The first workshops in Lundag and Katipunan are coming soon – with graduates as teachers! We are keeping our fingers crossed!
Author: Filip Wojciechowski (Kahibalo Foundation)