Protecting Reptiles
Catching problem reptiles, such as cobras and crocodiles, is only half the solution. The educational follow-up is equally as important. Mario and HerpaWorld are effective and inspirational educators.For any conservation program to be effective, it must have the support, understanding and ownership of the human inhabitants in that area. With an understanding of this principle, myself and our team take great pride in donating much time, money and effort to all the humanitarian issues necessary for people to live harmoniously with potentially dangerous wildlife.
I love Reptiles and have been involved in the protection of these apex predators from an early age.
Reptiles/human confrontations continue to occur today due to increased human activities along the rice fields and tropical forests of the Philippine Islands. Removing an individual reptile, such as cobras, is only a short-term solution - it is disrupting to the cobras natural social structure and does little to inform locals about how to live alongside this important predator.
We have set up an animal rescue unit based in Puerto Galera, Mindoro Oriental, as a quick response program for problem reptiles and also implemented an educational program called 'Living with Reptiles' for local communities, including schools, to promote a greater understanding of these amazing Animals.
Research is essential on wild populations in order to promote a better understanding of these ecologically important animals and their continued conservation in the wild. The HerpaWorld Foundation is planning to go in collaborative research efforts with international biodiversty conservation organisations to collect vital information of wild populations of reptiles.
The conservation of Mcgregor’s pitviper (for example) is important for the continued survival of the species on the planet! It is one of the greatest challenges for wildlife managers in trying to balance the needs of venomous reptiles with those of an increasing human population.
The highly experienced staff at the Zoological Institute of HerpaWorld, will continue to contribute further to the conservation of reptiles and other threatened animals. I firmly believe that it is possible to change public perception from one of fear to one where their presence is respected and something to be proud of.
Human life is easily the most important aspect of any wildlife management program. HerpaWorld is committed to the challenge of reptile management without financial restraint.
Besides running conservation projects for our endangered species we also work as a rescue center for animals such as endangered birds, reptiles and mammals that are in need of rescue. At the moment we have accomplished a recovery and release-station for reticulated pythons (Python reticulatus) in coorporation with the department of environment and natural resources, protected areas and wildlife bureau.
If people have a problem with for example snakes entering their homes, they can call us for help and we will go out and catch the animal and bring it to our facilities for rehabilitation.
When we bring the animal here, we keep it in quarantine and give it necessary medical treatment. After the animal has recovered and is in good condition we release it back into the wild.
Very common problems include infected wounds, broken teeth, mouthrot and parasitic problems such as mites, ticks and worms.
The pictures below shows how badly injured the animals that we bring here for rehabilitation can be. In the picture series you will see one of the many animals we have treated here at our recovery station. This reticulated python (Python reticulatus) had a severly infected wound on her back due to a hit with a big knife. In addition to that she had broken teeth, mouthrot and was in generally poor condition. Breaking out the snakes teeth is a common procedure for local people who likes to keep the snakes as pets (especially pythons, so that they cannot bite and injure the owner). All of these injures that we see and treat requires a lot of care and medicine. Even with the proper treatment their survival is not ensured, Sometimes the damage is too far gone. In petmarkets we can usually find animals that are kept under very poor and dirty conditions because of ignorance. If a petstore owner does not know how to take care of an animal properly, the customer buying the animal will not have sufficient information how to care for it either, so the sad story continues.
This particular python below was one of the lucky ones. If we hadn't treated her, her odds for survival today would be very low.
