![brahminy kite brahminy kite](https://www.forrest-india.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Brahminy-Kite-1.jpg)
![brahminy kite brahminy kite](https://www.ingrids-welt.de/reise/aus/bilder/nswwibr7.jpg)
As a biodiversity hotspot, it’s among the top areas for conservation priority in the globe. It has the fourth-highest bird endemism in the world. The Philippines is among 18 countries considered mega-biodiverse, with species endemism at 49% for terrestrial wildlife. The DENR says it hopes that with WildALERT, it can respond more quickly to reports and more effectively enforce the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act of 2001, which regulates the hunting, possession, collection, transportation, importation, and trading of wild animals in the country. For concerned citizens, the app will go public by January 2021, which includes an anonymous reporting function. The environment department will begin training sessions via video conferencing in September or October. The department aims to roll out the app among DENR personnel and law enforcement partners before the year ends plans for an earlier deployment were delayed by travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It will facilitate the actual and on-time apprehension of the violators.” “And if we are able to bridge this gap from the discovery of the crime or illegal activity up to the time of reporting, then apprehension will be speedy. “In law enforcement, especially apprehending wildlife violators, the key element is time,” Theresa Tenazas, a lawyer and the officer in charge at the DENR’s Wildlife Resources Division (WRD), told Mongabay.
#BRAHMINY KITE UPDATE#
The Wildlife Agency and Citizen Law Enforcement Reporting Tool (WildALERT) is a centralized system that aims to help DENR employees and law enforcement partners, and eventually, citizens in general, identify wildlife species, report illegal activities while in the field, validate and update reports, and monitor the status of wildlife crimes. To address the red tape and ease the reporting process, the DENR in March launched a mobile app, though it’s not yet available to the public. Image courtesy of Christian Atienza on Facebook But even for people like Atienza, who try to do the right thing, informing authorities about wildlife sightings can be complicated because the reports have to go through several channels, causing delays in validation and coordination. In the case of Atienza’s Brahminy kites, they were taken to the government’s wildlife rescue center in Quezon City on May 10 and have been there since. In the Philippines, they’re considered a threatened species, one of many that make up the country’s 50 billion pesos ($1 billion) illegal wildlife trade.
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Atienza reported the brahminy kites to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) after receiving offers and even threats from aggressive buyers.īrahminy kites are found from the Indian subcontinent through Southeast Asia and down to Australia. At a loss for what to do with the young birds of prey, he handed them over to Atienza who, in turn, took care of them. Ramos says he found the hatchlings in a neighborhood forest near his house and tried to release them back into the wild, but they kept returning to his home. Imagine his surprise when his neighbor, Philip Ramos, turned over hatchlings of brahminy kites ( Haliastur indus), locally known as lawin. That’s exactly what happened to Christian Atienza, a resident of the town of Mabini in Batangas province, south of Manila. But what if a neighbor gives you wild animals? MANILA - In the Philippines, it’s normal for neighbors to share their food, and - since most areas are still under a form of lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic - even toiletries, clothes, and other essentials.
#BRAHMINY KITE OFFLINE#
The WildALERT app is designed to overcome one of the main problems with reporting any kind of crime from remote areas - patchy internet reception - by using an offline mode that allows users to enter photographic and location data on-site and upload it when they get reception.Illegal wildlife trafficking is the fourth-biggest transnational crime in the world, following the trafficking of drugs, people, and weapons in the Philippines, the trade is estimated at $1 billion a year, and threatens the country’s unique wildlife, of which many species are found nowhere else.The Philippines’ environment department plans a year-end rollout of an app, currently being tested, that should make it easier for citizens and enforcement officials to report wildlife crimes.