00:00The search for food for the crocodile
00:16Until it was found in a pond
00:21The crocodile was caught, but not yet a common one
00:25so that we can get to know what they call
00:30Amamaktin.
00:37We rented the Surigao del Norte to get to know Amamaktin,
00:42which means the sound of a mouth.
00:46Haval! Haval! Express!
00:52This is also known as Amamaktin.
01:00To make a living, they catch it and eat it.
01:05Look at this.
01:07One of their foods is something that you would never think of as a meal.
01:12But this is the meat of a rodent.
01:17You know, this is not a chicken because of its limbs.
01:25This is a rodent.
01:27What does a rodent look like?
01:29Does it look like an ordinary rodent or a mountain rodent?
01:33Mountain rodents are really big.
01:35Their heads are big.
01:37Like this big.
01:38Their heads?
01:40No, their bodies.
01:42Their heads are like this big.
01:44So this rodent is a clean species?
01:46Yes, it's a clean species because they eat animals from the mountains.
01:50There are 1,700 species of rodents in the world.
01:55Most of them are considered pests to rodents found in farms and rice fields.
02:01According to the Food and Agriculture Organization or FAO,
02:06only 170 species of rodents are considered pests and carry diseases such as rabies and leptospirosis.
02:16Amamaktin is usually found in forests.
02:20But to catch it, some residents put traps in the mountains.
02:25This is one of the traps they make for the rats.
02:30Look at this.
02:32There are banana plants with seeds.
02:37When they come here, the trap will be triggered and their legs will be attached to it.
02:44When we went around the mountain, we saw a hole.
02:48Look at this.
02:50We saw rats.
02:54Look at this.
02:56They live here on this cliff.
03:00But not only rats live here.
03:03This young rodent is busy sunbathing.
03:08Suddenly...
03:10Ah! Ah! Oh my God!
03:13It bit me!
03:15It bit its prey so hard.
03:17This is a Komingay.
03:19It's rare to see a rodent of this size because usually these rodents hide.
03:26And look at the color.
03:28The color is beautiful.
03:31Maybe later, these holes were made for a lot of purposes.
03:37They make traps.
03:39But they also keep other animals such as snakes and lizards.
03:46We also saw another dragon.
03:49Oh my gosh!
03:51It's a forest dragon.
03:53Wow!
03:55We have two types of lizards.
03:58This one has traces of green on its lips.
04:01And sometimes, it has blue color on its eyes.
04:04After our investigation, we also brought it to the wild.
04:09Amamaktin are more active at night.
04:13That's why they are more likely to be caught at night.
04:17Dan was caught.
04:19Oh my gosh! It's so big.
04:21Let me put on my gloves first.
04:23I'm not afraid of snakes or lizards.
04:25I'm not afraid of lizards.
04:27But I'm afraid of rats.
04:29Oh! It's so heavy.
04:31Maybe it's less than a kilo.
04:34Oh my gosh! I'm holding two rats.
04:37And the difference is that its head is bigger on my left.
04:41Compared to the one I'm holding on my right.
04:44And the tail is noticeable.
04:47It's furry.
04:50Its tail is thick.
04:53And the reason for that is possibly
04:56because the weather here is cold.
04:59That's why thick fur develops to protect them from the cold.
05:05Its tail is white at the end.
05:08Earlier this morning, they caught 10 of them.
05:11But we arrived a bit late.
05:14They were worried that they might get hurt.
05:17So, they turned around.
05:18That's why we said that we need to see the whole mountain rat.
05:23Because it's growing.
05:25Field rats, the ones that are eaten, don't grow like this.
05:29They call it Amamaktin.
05:31It's a Philippine forest rat that can only be found in the Philippines.
05:36To you, it might look like our typical house rat.
05:42But it has a different look.
05:44Its whiskers are very long.
05:45It has a different shade here.
05:48Its cheeks are white.
05:51To make it look so different from the usual rats that we are seeing in the city.
05:59Amamaktin's favorite are rats and insects.
06:03That's why it sometimes comes down to the fields
06:08to look for food such as corn and sweet potatoes.
06:11How do they treat you?
06:14Especially in Amamaktin Bagin,
06:18the rats that are caught,
06:22if there's meat inside,
06:25they eat it.
06:27When it comes to farming,
06:29the residents there rely on their income.
06:35There's a part of the mountain that needs to be destroyed
06:38for agriculture.
06:39That's why they also make food for the rats that are caught.
06:44To the residents,
06:47the look of the rats in their area is different.
06:51Aside from the food of the Philippine forest rats,
06:55it's more important for other types of rats to enter their area.
07:01Like the pest rats that they also eat.
07:05If the number of endemic rats continues to decrease,
07:10it has an effect on our environment.
07:13Especially because they are the so-called forest engineer of the forest.
07:19Our forest rats are sensitive to changes in the environment.
07:25They are a good indicator of the state of our environment.
07:30They are seed dispersers that eat fruits or plants.
07:35And this is important for the regeneration of our forest.
07:40They are also prey items or food for various types of wildlife.
07:46They also contribute to nutrient cycling,
07:49like they eat small animals and various plants.
07:55For others, the source of protein is the food of the rats.
08:00But experts still remind us that
08:03rats are the hosts of pathogens.
08:10The food they eat is at the infective stage.
08:14Even if they cook the prepared foods or meat,
08:17the proper handling is still affected by the transmissions of zoonotic diseases.
08:25In addition to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of Surigao del Norte,
08:31they will study the situation of residents in the area and how they can be helped.
08:37They will also study the rats.
08:40The rats may look alike at first glance,
08:44but each one has its own purpose.
08:48This includes those who play an important role for the environment.
09:03Thank you so much for watching Born to be Wild.
09:07For more stories about our nature,
09:11please subscribe to the JMA Public Affairs YouTube channel.
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