Today, travel and wildlife program Born to be Wild premiers its three-part anniversary special to celebrate its 12 years on television.
As a young vet starting his hosting job in Born to be Wild nearly 12 years ago, Doc Ferds Recio met “Zambo”, a baby dugong in Zamboanga City.
Zambo was found stranded in a port, alone, without its mother. Marine mammal experts and veterinarians bonded together and tried to rehabilitate Zambo, hoping the baby dugong can be released back into the wild. Sadly, Zambo did not survive.
Since then, Doc Ferds has gone on to encounter more dugongs in the wild, including a group of dugongs in an island in Davao. But Doc Ferds has always wanted to document the dugong in a protected state, to see the species thriving free from danger, unlike the stranded dugong he once encountered.
Finally, the time has come. In Palawan, a friendly dugong called “Aban” is well-loved by the locals for changing their lives and livelihood. Here, the dugong is protected in its very home.
In Tawi-Tawi, residents are no stranger to crocodiles. Saltwater crocs have long thrived in the mangroves of Tawi-Tawi and encounter with humans are not unheard of. But recently, a much larger croc with a different “marking” on its head has been seen in the area. The strange marking was observed in a crocodile surrendered in the Marines camp in Tawi-Tawi. Experts suspect that the crocodile is not the saltwater croc typically found in the Philippines, but a migrating croc from Malaysia.
Doc Nielsen Donato and croc experts employ DNA analysis to confirm this. If true, why are these larger crocs migrating to Tawi-Tawi?
Born to be Wild’s three-part 12th-anniversary special premieres today right after AHA! on GMA 7.
