Darrell Blatchley is a Bisaya-speaking American missionary’s son with an unusual passion: he collects the bones of animals that humans have killed through pollution and displays them for education.
The founder of the D’Bone Collector’s Museum in Davao, Blatchley talks to Howie about bearing the stench of dead animals, cleaning the bones of whales and crocodiles, and how our plastic waste is causing the deaths of countless creatures.
The founder of the D’Bone Collector’s Museum in Davao, Blatchley talks to Howie about bearing the stench of dead animals, cleaning the bones of whales and crocodiles, and how our plastic waste is causing the deaths of countless creatures.
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00:00Good day, Podmates! Howie Severino again, reminding you that a long attention span is a gift of wisdom.
00:07Our guest today is the so-called The Animal Bone Collector of Davao,
00:12and the founder of The Bone Collector Museum in the so-called Lungson, Daryl Blatchley.
00:19An American who came to the Philippines when he was just a teenager.
00:23He is now often called when a large animal dies.
00:28Along with him is a well-known elephant from Manila.
00:33How did you end up in the Philippines?
00:36My parents are missionaries here in Davao, as well as here in Thailand.
00:40So when I reached Davao City when I was 15, it wasn't my choice to come here.
00:45It was my parents' and God's choice to come to Davao.
00:48But every place that you live, you have two choices.
00:51You love the place that you're at, or you hate it.
00:54And I would rather love the place that I'm at and find things that I enjoy here.
01:01The first place that we lived in Davao was literally less than a kilometer away from the local crocodile park here.
01:07So for me, it was like, oh, yay, we have a house and then there's a crocodile park.
01:11So it's just close to the wildlife.
01:13But as I started to explore more of the Philippines, I saw that there was no education or concern about wildlife.
01:22Wildlife was like, how many kilos are there in the market?
01:26Or how many cows are there?
01:29So there wasn't a value or an appreciation for the amount of wildlife that you see in the Philippines.
01:36Animals that I haven't seen in Thailand.
01:40Tamaraw, I haven't seen them in the wild.
01:45But you can only see them in the Philippines.
01:47Tarsiers, we didn't have them in Thailand.
01:50But there were no tarsiers here.
01:51So it was really good, even the Filipino eagle, to have something so big and so majestic, literally in the backyard.
02:01And the fact that the front yard is all the sea.
02:04So it was an appreciation for what we have here.
02:08And since I was a kid, I used to collect the bones of the animals.
02:14I didn't just pick the animals here.
02:16The hill tribe people who carried the dead pets and collected their bones.
02:22It wasn't a fascination with death.
02:25It was a fascination with how amazing these creatures were.
02:29When whales or dolphins die, I would ask the local government,
02:34I said, what happens to these animals?
02:36What was the cause of death?
02:37I would ask the media.
02:39We don't know, it just died.
02:41So because I kept seeing more and more of these animals dying,
02:45and no results, no reason,
02:48I took it upon myself to work with the bureau fisheries, the BIFAR,
02:53as well as the LGU, to start finding out why these animals died.
02:56I had to do the studies and everything,
02:58do a proper necropsy, researching how it was done internationally.
03:01And then I proposed to the BIFAR and the LGU,
03:04I said, I'll find out why these animals died,
03:06and then you turn over the remains to me,
03:08to be able to be used for education.
03:10Because otherwise, it was either consumed by humans,
03:13burned,
03:15or buried.
03:17They would bury it.
03:18And then you would lose all education value on it.
03:21So we started to recover.
03:22At first, it was like,
03:24people would say,
03:26they're not American,
03:27because they smell bad.
03:29And I,
03:31yeah, the animals stink when they're dead.
03:34But I look at what the final outcome of this animal is for education.
03:39Yeah, it is,
03:41dead whale, whatever,
03:43smells bad.
03:45But,
03:46the long-term effect of being able to do that preservation,
03:50so that it can show people the amazing creation
03:53and the amazing environment we have here in the Philippines
03:56and throughout the world,
03:58but at the same time how fragile it is,
04:00how a large animal can die from something as small as a cellophane bag.
04:04To show that,
04:06for the Filipinas or for the visitors here,
04:09it's an encouragement when you start to see change.
04:12Most people who are fond of animals,
04:15are fond of living animals.
04:18So there are pets,
04:20some are able to set up their own personal zoo, etc.
04:24But your collection is here,
04:27it's all dead.
04:28Some are dead for a long time.
04:30Why did you choose that
04:31versus the collection of living animals?
04:35For me, to do a zoo,
04:37it has to be done,
04:38several different things have to be done properly on it.
04:41Number one, the space of the area.
04:44For me, you can't put a ring-a-tang,
04:46or the deers, whatever,
04:48in a small enclosure,
04:49which will permanently stress the animals.
04:52If I do it, it has to be that the animal doesn't even realize
04:56that the visitor is there.
04:58So it would be done more on a safari style,
05:00because the area is large.
05:02We did not have the resources at the time
05:05to be able to do it.
05:07And there were already other rescue centers here,
05:10like the Crocodile Park, the Philippine Eagle Center, etc.
05:14As I get older and I look at it more,
05:16I do want to do something similar to that,
05:18but not something that would infringe on other existing parks.
05:23It would be done in a way for, say,
05:25animals such as the Philippine Brown Deer
05:27that are highly endangered,
05:29but still being used as a consumer for indigenous people,
05:33do it in a way that that animal has a financial value
05:36for the Philippines,
05:37but also still can be used and utilized by the IPs,
05:41both in tourism, but as a consumer as well for them.
05:45So, why the bones?
05:47Why the bones?
05:48Because with these animals,
05:50the issue in the Philippines is humidity.
05:52Humidity and insects,
05:54and the humidity affects the taxidermy.
05:57There are taxidermy mounts,
05:58which are the skin preservation of the animals,
06:01and over long term,
06:02I know those mounts will start to disintegrate.
06:05But we still have them on display
06:07until the time that they finally do fall apart,
06:09so that at least we can still see the appearance of the animals
06:12that were still alive.
06:14With these bones,
06:15it's the part that most people never ever get to see.
06:19And so, it's able to highlight each one,
06:21showing the difference between a crab-eating macaw
06:24from the Philippines
06:25versus a Celebes crested macaw from Indonesia.
06:30You see the difference in the bones and the bone structures,
06:33and I don't have an issue with insects or humidity
06:37that can damage the bones.
06:39It's a longer process,
06:40and it takes more work to do it,
06:42but I look at the long term,
06:44it's much better.
06:47And what is the effect of this so far?
06:53The effect, when,
06:55because we've been open for 12 years now,
06:57when we first opened the museum,
06:59it was, it felt like it was an uphill push.
07:02It was a push against the norm.
07:04People were like,
07:05oh, why the bones?
07:06Why this and that?
07:07But because it's been 12 years now,
07:09we've had people that went from grade school,
07:12then high school,
07:13then they graduated college,
07:14and now they are the new DNR,
07:17the new BFAR workers,
07:19and they had gone through their courses
07:21from grade school to college,
07:22being able to visit here,
07:24some of the field trips.
07:25So they had learned to appreciate
07:27what wildlife was found here in the Philippines
07:30and other places.
07:31We have started to see a change.
07:33For me, it feels like it takes forever,
07:36but it doesn't happen overnight.
07:38So we have started to see a change,
07:40but if only 10% of the country changes
07:44and 90% doesn't,
07:46you still lose.
07:48So we continue to do what we're doing.
07:51We hope for the best.
07:57I would like to be optimistic,
07:59but I'm unfortunately more pessimistic, it seems.
08:02And so I have looked at it as in
08:05enjoy as much of it as I can now,
08:08let my son see as much of what is still left now,
08:12and hopefully we can save some of it.
08:14Where do the bones come from?
08:17The whales and dolphins are all from Davao Gulf,
08:20in the Philippines.
08:21The rest of the bones,
08:22they're donated from other collectors,
08:24hunters in legal countries.
08:26They're sent here to be used in museums.
08:29And the specimens that then go on display,
08:32they're not being resold.
08:33They're being treated chemically,
08:35like there are no insects,
08:36even if they're caught here.
08:38And they are really long-term.
08:43Because the technical details of this,
08:48the process,
08:50there's a scientific process to doing all of this.
08:53How did you learn that or your colleagues?
08:55There's very few places in the world
08:57that do bone preservation.
08:59A lot of it is trial and error.
09:01You look at the old museums,
09:03the London Natural History Museum,
09:05the U.S. Natural History Museum,
09:07the styles that have been done,
09:10the process has changed a little bit over the years.
09:12The chemicals are a lot the same still.
09:14Pero there's no actual place to go learn
09:17how to do like this
09:18unless you were to work at another museum to do it.
09:21The process that I've been doing
09:23has been through trial and error
09:24and communication with other museums.
09:26So, what are the main lessons for you?
09:29Life is fragile.
09:33Take care of it.
09:34Enjoy it.
09:36We're told to be...
09:37Ever since...
09:40When God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden,
09:42we're told to be caretakers.
09:45To take care of something
09:46doesn't mean to go out and destroy it.
09:48It means to take care of it.
09:49And if you look back at human history,
09:52if we take care of the environment around us,
09:55it takes care of us.
09:57If we abuse it,
09:58it hits us harder.
10:00If we cut all the trees down,
10:02then we have landslides,
10:03we have flooding,
10:04and it destroys us.
10:05If we take care of it,
10:07it provides us with resources,
10:09it provides us with shade,
10:10it provides us with food.
10:12So, it's a balance between the two.
10:14What are the things that you value in your collection?
10:18I mean, if you're going to highlight just a few
10:20that really add value to this museum,
10:23what would you say?
10:24If you had to look at...
10:26The whales and dolphins are a big one
10:28because the Philippines is made up of islands.
10:31Everything from the bukit, kutob, the beaches,
10:34affects everything in those oceans around us.
10:37The majority of Filipinos eat fish.
10:39Those fishes come from the oceans around us.
10:41So, we directly impact the ocean around us.
10:44So, for me,
10:45the whales and dolphins are basically
10:47the flagship animals for this.
10:50And then when you look at the jungle sections,
10:53the bats and the hornbills
10:55are the ones that are replanting the forest.
10:58As a person,
10:59we can go by hand and plant each tree.
11:02The bats and the birds are doing it for us for free.
11:05They eat the seed here,
11:06they fly up,
11:07and they release the seeds up in the mountains.
11:10But if we remove all their homes,
11:12there will be no more bats,
11:13no more birds.
11:15Let me ask you about the whale,
11:17because those tell a story.
11:19Particularly, the one whale that...
11:24You tied it up, right?
11:27You showed it to them,
11:28there was a chainsaw,
11:29and there were beached, dead whales,
11:33that you saw a lot of plastic inside.
11:37What do you want to share?
11:39When I do the necropsies,
11:41my sons are usually there with me.
11:44And it's not,
11:45for them,
11:46they don't see it as a,
11:47ooh,
11:48bloody, gory.
11:49They want to know why it died.
11:52And I remember with the whale
11:53that had 40 kilos of plastic garbage.
11:56My sons went with me,
11:57we recovered it,
11:58we loaded it,
11:59we brought it back here.
12:00And as we're opening it up,
12:01you can hear it even in the video,
12:02my son goes,
12:03is that plastic?
12:05And then we pull out the next one,
12:06we pull out the next one,
12:07he goes,
12:08Dad,
12:09how did that animal live that long
12:11with so much plastic garbage?
12:14And then he started to get emotional
12:15because after four,
12:17five,
12:18six,
12:19seven,
12:20eight,
12:21nine pieces of plastic,
12:22and then you're getting to kilos of it,
12:2340 kilos of garbage.
12:24From the stomach, yeah.
12:26He goes,
12:28I'm so frustrated,
12:31what's going to be left for me, Daddy?
12:33I said, what do you mean?
12:34He goes,
12:35what will be left?
12:36If this is every single year
12:38we're getting like this,
12:39will I have any whales left
12:40to be able to see?
12:43For me,
12:44it's really painful.
12:45It's your son,
12:46it's your children asking you as the adult,
12:51will I have any animals
12:52to be able to enjoy
12:53or will it be
12:54puros na patay na?
12:57Our generation,
12:58we look at our forefathers
12:59and we say,
13:00oh,
13:01maraming pa mga forests
13:02sa Filipina sa una,
13:03maraming mga redwoods
13:04sa US.
13:05Why did you cut them all down?
13:06And they say,
13:07ay, parang pera.
13:09Now my generation is,
13:11oh,
13:12it's just easier
13:13pang silafin bag
13:14sa grocery store
13:15and then ilabay sa basura lang.
13:18We don't realize
13:19the consequences of
13:21the easiness,
13:22our comfort now
13:23of oh,
13:24instead of taking the bag with you
13:25to be able to reuse it,
13:27we want them to put it in
13:28and we take it home
13:29pang basura.
13:30It gets tossed away,
13:31we don't remember it.
13:33Now,
13:34we're not the ones
13:35necessarily directly
13:36throwing it into the ocean
13:37but we're part of the
13:38contributing factor for it.
13:40The Philippines
13:41is made up of islands.
13:42You don't have enough land
13:44to grow enough rice,
13:46let alone to throw away
13:47all of the garbage.
13:49Dumating ka nga rito sa Pilipinas
13:50bilang anak ng mga misionaryo,
13:53ang nagtuturo
13:54tungkol sa reliyon
13:56at ngayon ay
13:57ikaw mismo
13:58ay isang pastor.
13:59Pero itong ginagawa mo rito
14:01ay
14:02malaking bahagi nito
14:03siyensya.
14:06Alam natin na
14:07madalas
14:09may lumilitaw na
14:11parang conflict
14:12between science
14:13and faith
14:15or religion
14:16and science, no?
14:17Kasi much of what
14:18you're talking about
14:19is really science-based, no?
14:21Paano mo nire-reconcile yan
14:23sa pananampalataya,
14:25sa paniniwala sa Diyos?
14:28When I go walking
14:29in a jungle,
14:30I'm amazed at
14:32the structure
14:34of everything around it.
14:36That how one insect
14:38does its role
14:39in the ecosystem
14:41and how it couldn't
14:42have been a mistake
14:43or by chance
14:45na ipagbuhat ito.
14:47If you look at
14:49sabi ng evolutionist,
14:50oh, over millions of years
14:52na itabo ito,
14:53nahi mo ito-ito.
14:55And yet,
14:57there's bird species
14:58that yung shape
14:59ng itlog niya
15:01is parang hindi mo tagak
15:02yung itlog sa cliff.
15:04If evolution took
15:05millions of years
15:06para ito yung itlog
15:08to not,
15:09to design itself
15:10to not roll off the cliff,
15:12you think about it,
15:13one generation of birds,
15:14their eggs falling off the cliff,
15:15wala na,
15:16extinct na ito yung bird.
15:17It was,
15:18by design,
15:19by a creator,
15:20paghi mo ito yung animal.
15:21So,
15:22for me,
15:23I don't see
15:24a museum is in conflict
15:25with,
15:26even though yung scientific
15:27part of it,
15:28hindi na conflict
15:29sa yung religion
15:30aspect of it.
15:32It shows,
15:33back to a creator,
15:34the beauty of it,
15:35the intricateness
15:36of every single
15:37one of it.
15:38It doesn't matter
15:39whether it's a king cobra
15:40or a reticulated python,
15:41they have the same design
15:44behind each one of them.
15:45A tiger skeleton
15:47or an elephant skeleton
15:49or,
15:50here's the fun part,
15:51is a giraffe,
15:52an elephant,
15:53a whale,
15:54a sparrow,
15:55has seven neck bones.
15:57If it was by evolution,
15:58how did they all
15:59only have seven neck bones?
16:01You would have figured,
16:02one flies,
16:03one crawls on land,
16:04you know,
16:05impossibly that they would go,
16:06hey,
16:07we have to have seven.
16:08Why doesn't one have,
16:09a giraffe,
16:10you know,
16:11as big as their neck is,
16:12you would think,
16:13oh,
16:14they have seven neck bones.
16:15It's just,
16:16the intricateness of it
16:17is amazing.
16:18You would have to
16:19have more faith
16:20that it happened
16:21by accident
16:23than to believe
16:24it was designed
16:25by a creator.
16:26Now,
16:27if at the end of my life,
16:28I look at it this way,
16:29if at the end of my life,
16:30when I die,
16:31I find out
16:32that there is no God,
16:34that it's just black,
16:37did I lose anything?
16:38No.
16:40If I live my life
16:41as I am,
16:42teaching people
16:43to take care
16:44of what God's
16:45created for them,
16:46teaching them
16:47to have that relationship
16:48to God,
16:49and I die
16:50and I find out
16:51that I was right,
16:52did I lose anything?
16:53No.
16:54I gained everything.
16:56So it boils down
16:57to their own
16:58personal choice.
16:59I hope they make
17:00the right choice
17:01and we only get
17:02one chance at life.
17:03If I may play
17:04devil's advocate here.
17:05Yes.
17:06Okay,
17:07because humans
17:08were also made by God.
17:09Yes.
17:10Within this
17:12belief system,
17:13right?
17:15And humans
17:17are creating
17:18these conditions
17:20that are killing
17:21these animals,
17:22that are causing
17:23extinctions,
17:24that may even cause
17:27the end of life
17:28on earth,
17:29you know,
17:31many, many generations
17:32from now.
17:34But since
17:35we were made by
17:36God,
17:37humans,
17:38and humans
17:39are creating
17:40these conditions
17:41for the loss
17:42of all of these species,
17:46would you also say
17:47that extinction
17:49and all of these problems
17:50that we have
17:51caused by humans
17:52which were made by God
17:53are also
17:55God's design?
17:56It's interesting
17:57because this afternoon
17:59I'm going to go
18:00do prison ministry
18:01and our topic today
18:02is free choice.
18:05Free choice
18:06or free will.
18:08We are given a choice.
18:09Now,
18:10the thing is
18:11hard to explain is
18:12well, if God knows
18:13the beginning
18:14and He knows the end,
18:15how can it be free choice?
18:16He would want
18:17the best for us,
18:18but we have that choice
18:19and there's what's called
18:20consequences.
18:22One of the sayings
18:23I have is
18:24life is a journey
18:25full of choices
18:26and consequences.
18:27Which path will you take?
18:29Every action we have
18:30has a consequence.
18:31Good choices,
18:32good consequences.
18:33Bad choices,
18:34bad consequences.
18:36So,
18:37if God giving us
18:38that free reign,
18:39that free choice
18:40to take care of
18:41or not take care of
18:42and thus the consequences
18:43thereof,
18:46we boil it down to
18:48whether it be
18:49environmental
18:50or even sin choices.
18:51Okay,
18:52and one of your choices
18:53is to live in the Philippines
18:55and do all of this
18:57and then
18:58but in the course of
18:59living here
19:00and putting up this museum
19:02and doing what you do,
19:04you've also noticed
19:05a lot of problems.
19:07And
19:09you've spoken about problems
19:11in the Philippines.
19:29For me,
19:30it's painful because
19:31I'm 34 years old
19:32and I'm Filipino.
20:01Whether it come across
20:02as arrogant or aggressive.
20:04And so when people say,
20:05oh, you're just a foreigner,
20:06you shouldn't tell us
20:07what to do.
20:08If I am wrong in saying it
20:09and I am lying,
20:10then segui.
20:13Pero if what I'm saying
20:14is the truth,
20:15do not be offended
20:16by the truth.
20:18Make the changes.
20:20I
20:22I love the Philippines
20:23and there's times
20:24I do get frustrated with it.
20:26No matter whether
20:27it be the Philippines
20:28or if I lived in America
20:29or Thailand,
20:30every country,
20:32every place in the world
20:33has its problems.
20:35Learning to accept it
20:36in some cases
20:38are things I need to do.
20:40But if it's something
20:41I believe truly
20:42that can be changed,
20:45then it should be.
20:46Not just for me,
20:47but for the country
20:49and for the future
20:50of my children
20:51and anybody else's children
20:52in the Philippines.
20:54But if we remain silent
20:57and God has given us
20:58the position
20:59to be able to make
21:00positive change
21:01for the country,
21:03bad things happen
21:04when good people
21:05don't do anything.
21:08And I don't want to
21:09waste my time
21:10and position
21:12when I could have made
21:13positive change
21:14like in the Philippines.
21:15So,
21:17where is the hope
21:18in the Philippines?
21:19Because
21:20we were talking earlier
21:22about the problems
21:23you saw before.
21:24Until now,
21:25they're still there.
21:26In the government,
21:27in the state,
21:28in the government,
21:29etc.
21:31Do you see hope
21:32in us,
21:33in our country?
21:35As long as we're
21:36still alive,
21:37there is hope.
21:39As long as we're
21:40still alive,
21:41there is a chance
21:42to change.
21:43I cannot force
21:44a Filipino
21:45to change.
21:46It has to be
21:47their own personal choice.
21:49If you can't
21:50force them to change,
21:51you can
21:52encourage them
21:53to change.
21:54If we have laws
21:55in place
21:56to enforce the laws,
21:57then there will be
21:58no change.
21:59If the laws
22:00are enforced
22:01with discipline,
22:02it cannot be
22:03for one day
22:04or two days
22:05and then,
22:06that's it.
22:07Are you seeing change?
22:08Yes.
22:09We do see change.
22:12It may not be
22:13as big as what we want,
22:14but
22:15you have to aim
22:16high
22:17and accept.
22:18Where?
22:19Where is the change?
22:20For example,
22:21the 7-Elevens.
22:22All of the Philippines
22:23used to always be
22:24plastic bags.
22:25After 2019,
22:26the 40 kilos
22:27of plastic
22:28is now
22:29paper bags.
22:31It's a funny change
22:32because
22:34everything that goes
22:35into the paper bag
22:36is pure plastic.
22:37Your paper straw
22:38with a plastic wrapper.
22:39So it's like,
22:41okay,
22:43the action
22:44is there,
22:45but
22:47yeah.
22:48Mali.
22:49Yes.
22:50What is Mali's story?
22:51He will be
22:52displayed here.
22:54From Manila,
22:55he's here.
22:56What can you
22:57tell us
22:58about Mali?
22:59Mali,
23:00whether here,
23:01whether in Manila,
23:02will be something
23:03that will still be
23:04an education piece
23:05like in the Philippines.
23:06With the Mali display,
23:07we have an ivory display
23:08right here
23:09from
23:10mammoth ivory
23:11to hippo ivory
23:12to warthogs.
23:13The plan with Mali
23:14is to put
23:15ivory carvings
23:16in front of Mali
23:18and say
23:19to get this,
23:21you have to kill
23:22this.
23:23Are you willing
23:24to kill this?
23:25Mali will be
23:26an ambassador
23:27parang elephant
23:28ng species
23:29of the fact
23:30that ivory
23:31comes from elephants.
23:32Anong isasagot mo
23:33dun sa mga tiga Maynila
23:34na matagal nakita
23:35si Mali
23:36sa Manila Zoo,
23:37parang naging
23:38simbolo siya
23:39ng Maynila,
23:40you know,
23:41in a way, no?
23:42Bigla na lang nalaman
23:43na nandito pala
23:44sa Dabao,
23:45baka magtampo
23:46mga tiga Maynila.
23:47But what's,
23:48that's ours.
23:49I mean,
23:50it's an African
23:51animal,
23:52it's not a
23:53Philippine animal,
23:54but it was a resident
23:55of Manila.
23:56What's it doing in Dabao?
23:57Why is it going
23:58to be displayed in Dabao?
23:59The same could be said
24:00about Lolong.
24:01Lolong was captured
24:02here in Mindanao.
24:03Lolong was taken
24:04from Mindanao
24:05under the promise
24:06and the guise
24:07of being preserved
24:08parang ibigay balik
24:09sa Mindanao.
24:11Pero wala,
24:12aso na si Lolong?
24:13Aso na si museum?
24:15So,
24:16the same could be said
24:17either way.
24:18Had our museum
24:19not recovered Mali,
24:20where would Mali
24:21be now?
24:22Sira,
24:23ilibing,
24:24i-chop-chop,
24:25ilibing nga.
24:26Wala.
24:28So,
24:29yes,
24:30na wala
24:31aman sa Manila.
24:33Pero she still
24:34lives on,
24:35hindi sa memories,
24:36hindi sa pictures lang.
24:37Pero she will
24:38live on
24:39in her bone remains,
24:40yung taxidermy.
24:41Merong na plano
24:42siya ibutang
24:43sa Manila.
24:44And to see
24:45her taxidermied remains
24:46will be a remembrance
24:47of what she was.
24:48As we've talked about,
24:49I don't feel zoos
24:50should profit
24:51from the death
24:52of their animals.
24:54The purpose of a zoo
24:55is to highlight
24:56those animals alive,
24:57which is what
24:58the Manila Zoo
24:59has for the caretakers
25:00and the staff.
25:02They have done their best.
25:03Mali would not
25:04have lived as long
25:05as she did
25:06if she was not
25:07properly taken care of
25:08by the caretakers.
25:09She did live
25:10a long and healthy life.
25:11She was pushing
25:12the maximum age
25:13to continue
25:14to educate the public
25:15on the importance
25:17Now,
25:18whether the Manila Zoo
25:19gets another elephant,
25:20that is not for me.
25:22Pero,
25:23we will do our best
25:24to honor her life
25:26as her species
25:27as well continues on.
25:29Napaka-complicated din yung
25:30itong paglilinis,
25:32pag-preserve na mga buto.
25:34Paano mo natutunan to?
25:36Sabi mo nga,
25:37there are only very few
25:38museums that do this
25:40kind of display.
25:41Obviously,
25:42there's a very,
25:43it's a difficult process
25:45Sabi mo nga.
25:46So,
25:47how was this learned?
25:48How did you learn it?
25:50Trial and error.
25:51I have my first ones
25:52that I practice on,
25:53they're not as good
25:54as the last ones I've done.
25:56So, you're self-taught?
25:57Yes.
25:58You didn't go to school
25:59to do this?
26:00No.
26:01At 12 years old,
26:02I was doing taxidermy.
26:03And in fact,
26:04some of my original specimens
26:05that I did taxidermy
26:06are still on display.
26:07I still have them
26:08whether it be at the house
26:09or here on display.
26:10So,
26:11with ito yung mga buto,
26:12it was through trial and error
26:13and then communicating
26:14to other
26:15international museums.
26:16There's a
26:17good friend of mine
26:18who owns a museum
26:19of osteology
26:20in the United States.
26:21He does
26:22the majority
26:23of the skeleton preparation
26:24for other museums
26:25in the United States.
26:27And then there's
26:28another group
26:29out of Alaska
26:30that they do
26:31whale preservations
26:32and they have written
26:33books on it
26:34but they ask us
26:35on how to do things
26:36because they've only done
26:37two or three of them.
26:38And we've done
26:3980 plus.
26:40So,
26:41it is a
26:42very small community
26:44and if we find ways
26:45to do it better,
26:46we communicate
26:47with the other ones
26:48so that
26:49it broadens it
26:50but at the same time,
26:52because we're such
26:53a tight-knit
26:54and small community,
26:55we do protect
26:56our procedures.
26:57Okay,
26:58so after living here
26:59for 30 years,
27:01what bothers you most
27:02about the Philippines?
27:04Doesn't matter
27:05how many years
27:06I put into the Philippines.
27:07I will always be puti,
27:08the foreigner.
27:10Oh, you're just arrogant.
27:11Oh, you think
27:12you can tell us
27:13what to do.
27:14And yet,
27:15whether it be anything
27:16from
27:17iriklamo paglabay
27:18ng basura
27:19to gamito
27:20ng parking space.
27:23If I say,
27:24ito yung balaod
27:25sa Davao City,
27:26bawal ng
27:27i-blocking
27:28ng parking space,
27:30the road is
27:31public access
27:32parang parking.
27:33In front of the museum,
27:34puros na no parking.
27:36It's not
27:37reserved parking,
27:38it's no parking
27:39because maliit
27:40yung hangarsada.
27:41And it's the whole length
27:42of the road.
27:43So it's not,
27:44hindi parang kami lang.
27:45Pero in front of a restaurant,
27:46there's two restaurants
27:47and one,
27:48there's no parking
27:49so you park at the next one.
27:50They say,
27:51oh no, no, no,
27:52that's reserved parking
27:53for our clients only.
27:54Pero government
27:55ng road.
27:56And you say,
27:57hindi pwede nimo ito.
27:58And some
27:59bystander goes,
28:00oh, you're just
28:01the arrogant foreigner.
28:02You're in my country.
28:03No ma'am,
28:04it doesn't matter
28:05kung foreigner
28:06or kung Filipino,
28:07ito yung balaod.
28:08That's the law.
28:10It doesn't matter
28:11what you do
28:12great for the country,
28:13you're always the foreigner.
28:15Our viewers might be wondering
28:16what's around your neck?
28:17Please,
28:18what's the story there?
28:20Ito yung kwintas ko,
28:21ngipin sa buwaya.
28:23Ang buwaya,
28:24permanent na tagak
28:25yung ngipin niya.
28:26These teeth are
28:27constantly shedding
28:28so this crocodile
28:29is still alive.
28:30Walang pinatay na buwaya.
28:31Wala na matay,
28:32wala na matay.
28:33And it's,
28:34sabi mga uba ng tao,
28:35anting-anting daw,
28:36parang protection nimo
28:37sa buwaya.
28:38I enjoy crocodiles.
28:39In fact,
28:40yung logo sa museum
28:41is a skull of a crocodile
28:42pero the skull of the crocodile,
28:43puros walang ngipin.
28:45And the logo
28:46is black and white.
28:48Same as yung
28:49everything in life
28:50basically is black and white.
28:52Cause and consequences,
28:53or actions and consequences.
28:55Yung ngipin sa ito,
28:56yung buwaya,
28:57they're always shedding.
28:58After it sheds,
28:59it grows a new tooth.
29:01And so,
29:02every time we make a mistake,
29:03as long as we're still alive,
29:04we have a chance
29:05to make a correction
29:06to that mistake
29:07and so,
29:08as an anting-anting,
29:09to say that you won't get bit
29:10by a crocodile
29:11because you wear it
29:12is not true
29:13because the crocodile
29:14that lost the teeth,
29:15he has brand new,
29:16much sharper teeth.
29:17So, paranggo,
29:18it's just a fascination with it
29:19and it's a renewable resource
29:20ng Permanente Tagdag.
29:22I had to go into the cage,
29:23pick up the teeth
29:24around the area
29:25that the crocodile was living.
29:26So you're watching the crocodile
29:27and ito yung buwaya
29:28would be about
29:2912 to 13 feet long.
29:31Subrang 3.5 meters,
29:32koto 4 meters.
29:33So,
29:34I was the one
29:35that personally went in
29:36to pick up the teeth.
29:37So,
29:38you know yung buwayan
29:39kung saan nanggaling yan?
29:40Opo.
29:41So,
29:42bakit mo sinusuot ngayon?
29:43I enjoy it.
29:44It's nangguan.
29:45It's either that
29:46or a megalodon shark's tooth
29:47or whatever.
29:48So,
29:49you don't believe
29:50that it's a lucky charm?
29:51No,
29:52indeed,
29:53indeed,
29:54no.
29:55And so,
29:56it also identifies me.
29:57Kanang,
29:58pag kita mga tao,
29:59ay,
30:00nakita ko nangguan,
30:01how did you know it was me?
30:02Oh,
30:03nakita ko yung guintas.
30:04I wear it
30:05because it's from
30:06a crocodile
30:07on you right now.
30:08Bakit pinili mong crocodile?
30:09Why not a whale?
30:10When I was 15
30:11and we moved here to Davao,
30:12the first thing
30:13was literally
30:14the local crocodile park
30:15near where we lived.
30:17And so,
30:18at 15 years old,
30:19I had a job
30:21as a tour guide.
30:22Dito yung crocodile park.
30:23The owner of the crocodile park,
30:24he actually went to school
30:2611 miles from where
30:27my mom went to high school
30:29for an exchange student niya.
30:30So,
30:31I worked as a tour guide
30:32with ito yung crocodile park,
30:34parang i dakap yung buaya,
30:35let people take pictures with it.
30:37So,
30:38it was a,
30:39it was an animal
30:40that's scary,
30:41pero once you get to know it,
30:42the crocodile,
30:43sharks, anything,
30:44get a bad reputation
30:45because of being aggressive.
30:47The mother crocodile
30:48protects her nest
30:50and then carries the babies
30:51with her.
30:52And yet,
30:53when you talk about a buaya,
30:54oh,
30:55they're scary animals,
30:56they'll just attack you,
30:57kill you.
30:58And yet,
30:59that same animal
31:00will protect its babies.
31:01So,
31:02there's two sides
31:03to the buaya
31:04kind of with the museum
31:05as a flagship animal
31:06because if you protect a buaya,
31:08you have to protect the area
31:09that the buaya lives in,
31:10which would be
31:11the mangrove swamps.
31:12To protect the mangrove swamps,
31:14you're protecting the estuary
31:15where lapu-lapu
31:16and other fishes
31:17are going in
31:18to have their babies.
31:20Then you're protecting
31:21the baboy de mol
31:22and the monkeys,
31:23which is the food
31:24for the crocodile.
31:25So,
31:26by protecting one species,
31:27you've protected
31:28everything else
31:29in that area.
31:30Hi,
31:31I'm Howie Severino.
31:32Check out the
31:33Howie Severino Podcast.
31:34New episodes will stream
31:35every Thursday.
31:36Listen for free
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31:40and other platforms.