Aired (March 9, 2025): In this episode, Doc Ferds Recio delves into the fascinating world of insects, exploring how these tiny creatures thrive and interact with larger species in the forest. Meanwhile, Doc Nielsen Donato meets 'Lipadas,' a rescued Philippine eagle that has lost sight in its right eye. Can they encover the cause of its blindness? Watch the full story in the video.
‘Born to be Wild’ is GMA Network’s groundbreaking environmental and wildlife show hosted by resident veterinarians Doc Nielsen Donato and Doc Ferds Recio. #BornToBeWild #GMAPublicAffairs #GMANetwork
Watch it every Sunday, 9 AM on GMA
Network. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
‘Born to be Wild’ is GMA Network’s groundbreaking environmental and wildlife show hosted by resident veterinarians Doc Nielsen Donato and Doc Ferds Recio. #BornToBeWild #GMAPublicAffairs #GMANetwork
Watch it every Sunday, 9 AM on GMA
Network. Subscribe to youtube.com/gmapublicaffairs for our full episodes.
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FunTranscript
00:00Despite their small bodies and differences,
00:09they don't get tired of moving to maintain the balance of nature.
00:14It's really amazing.
00:16There! There! Look!
00:23This is my first time to see hippodas.
00:26We can assess that his left eye is functional.
00:304.4
00:46In the world of insects,
00:48small,
00:52colorful,
00:55and really amazing,
00:59it's amazing how they can change colors,
01:03fight,
01:06eat,
01:08and live.
01:17In this plant, a caterpillar is growing.
01:22It prepares itself to look for food.
01:27It caught and ate up to one insect.
01:35Its lunch is now sold.
01:40Because of its unique eyes,
01:42which has four pairs,
01:44it can easily see its food.
01:47But did you know that it has another hidden ability?
01:575.5
02:00We went to Makhiling Mountain,
02:02where you can find different kinds of insects
02:05with different abilities,
02:07such as hippos that can jump.
02:13I'm with entomologist Dr. Dave General,
02:15an expert when it comes to studying insects
02:21and looking for hippos.
02:27This one is huge.
02:29This spider is the length of a grasshopper.
02:33Why is it like that, sir?
02:35Actually, it's not a spider.
02:37It's spider-related,
02:39but it doesn't have a venom branch.
02:42But it's also a predator.
02:44It's also a predator.
02:45It's called Opiliones.
02:47Opiliones.
02:48Opiliones.
02:49What is its diet usually?
02:52Smaller insects.
02:53Insects.
02:54It's also a predator.
02:55That's why it has a long neck,
02:57so it's far from the prey.
02:59It can't kick or bite the prey.
03:02So it has a safety net.
03:05But it's a very effective predator
03:07because when it catches the prey item,
03:10it can't escape.
03:11It has eight legs wrapped around its neck.
03:14Eight legs.
03:15But it's not a spider.
03:17It's not a spider.
03:18Opiliones are also called Daddy Long Legs
03:22because of their extraordinary length
03:25of more than two centimeters.
03:30We continued our search.
03:34Later on,
03:36we noticed something moving in the plant.
03:40A jumping spider.
03:43Here.
03:44It came out of the leaf
03:47that it's holding.
03:50And it's as if it's preparing to jump.
03:53Let's wait for it to jump.
03:56Jumping spiders can jump
03:59up to 40 times their body length.
04:02Their eyes are the partner of their eyes
04:06for a more accurate jump.
04:09Jumping Spiders
04:17Jumping spiders don't know much
04:20but they don't use their legs when jumping.
04:24Because their legs are small.
04:26They don't have muscles.
04:28What they use is liquid pressure.
04:31The pressure of their blood
04:33is pressed with muscles in the cephalothorax
04:37and abdomen.
04:38If they squeeze that fluid,
04:40their legs will bend.
04:44What we can see on the outside
04:46is the bending of the legs.
04:47That's how they jump.
04:49Here it is, sir.
04:50It's about to jump.
04:51There.
04:52It jumped.
04:53You can see it.
04:54Jumping Spiders
05:03There are fighters on the tree of the cephalothorax.
05:07As the sun rises,
05:09the insects start to work on the tree.
05:14The weaver ants are busy with their work.
05:20Aside from the insects,
05:22the weaver ants also feed on its pupae.
05:26They make it look like it's going to get in the way.
05:32On the same tree,
05:33there's a cockroach.
05:38A stick insect.
05:42It's long and has six legs.
05:44It also has a clip
05:46that is used for crawling and climbing trees.
05:52Because it's so long,
05:53it can move around
05:55even on a high branch.
06:01In search of food,
06:02it meets the stick insect.
06:07Suddenly,
06:09using its legs,
06:11it grabs the stick insect.
06:18It's like it's trying to drop it.
06:23But the stick insect chose to retreat
06:27because it's still looking for food.
06:34Meanwhile,
06:35this stick insect has two legs.
06:39Maybe,
06:40it got it by fighting
06:42or escaping from predators or enemies.
06:46But today,
06:47it has a new challenge.
06:50It went to the wrong place.
06:52It's the place of the weaver ants.
06:56The stick insect was chased by the weaver ants.
07:01To be honest,
07:02stick insects are a hundred times bigger
07:05compared to cockroaches.
07:06But no matter how big the stick insects are,
07:10they still have no chance
07:12when cockroaches like this
07:14attack together
07:16against a stick insect.
07:19But because of its perseverance,
07:21even though it has legs,
07:22it still manages to get food.
07:25Herbivores are stick insects,
07:27so they eat leaves.
07:31There are two stick insects
07:32in this tree.
07:34Let's measure their length.
07:36First,
07:37it's around
07:409 inches long.
07:43The other one
07:45is 8 inches long.
07:49There are also stick insects
07:51that mimic the color
07:53and movement of the trunk of the tree.
07:56You won't notice right away
07:57that there are stick insects in the tree.
08:00Their color is usually green and brown,
08:04but they can blend in
08:06to the environment
08:07or to the trunk of the tree
08:08that they're holding.
08:09Like this one,
08:11you can see the white patches
08:13on the dorsal part
08:15of its abdomen and thorax.
08:17It blends in with the discoloration of the tree.
08:19Just like this one.
08:21So if it's far away,
08:22it's really hard to notice
08:24and detect
08:25their predators,
08:26like the birds.
08:29But it's a different story
08:30when it goes to other territories,
08:33like the head of this stick insect.
08:41It got a lot of bites.
08:48In spite of their small bodies
08:50and differences,
08:52they don't get tired of moving
08:54to maintain the balance of the environment.
08:57Their every move
09:01will show the importance
09:03of these insects
09:04in the world we live in.
09:08These are the hidden treasures
09:10of the insects.
09:12These are the hidden treasures
09:14of the insects.
09:23Every time I see a king bird,
09:26I can't help but look
09:28into its eyes.
09:30Speechless.
09:32I'm just touching it.
09:34It's so exciting.
09:36I can see its head.
09:38And definitely,
09:39it's a Philippine eagle.
09:41It's so gorgeous.
09:47But the situation of the eagle
09:49is different now.
09:53Its eyes are blurred
09:55and almost gone.
09:58It's a Philippine eagle.
10:12Silipadas is a male eagle
10:14that is assisted
10:16by the Philippine Eagle Foundation
10:18or PEF.
10:20And you can see
10:22that it's in a secluded area.
10:25There are traps blocking it
10:27because this silipadas
10:29is wild.
10:31It's important to put
10:33the silipadas in a quarantine facility
10:35to make sure
10:37that it doesn't get infected.
10:40This is my first time
10:42to see a silipadas.
10:44We assessed that
10:46its left eye is functional.
10:48But the affected eye,
10:50which is the right eye,
10:52the surrounding eyelids
10:54looks like it's clear.
10:56There are no discharges in its eyes.
11:01In 2022,
11:03we saw a silipadas
11:05in a nesting site.
11:10There is already
11:12a marked injury
11:14on the right eye.
11:16It can't see its surroundings.
11:18That's why it keeps
11:20moving
11:22and rotating
11:24its head.
11:28Silipadas makes a sound
11:30that looks like
11:32it's looking for food.
11:34It's looking for food.
11:42Because its eyes are clear,
11:44it's hard for a silipadas
11:46to look for food in the wild.
11:50If it can't eat,
11:52it's likely to die.
11:57There are no discharges
11:59or other foreign body
12:01that can be seen in its eyes.
12:05That's why it's important
12:07to think about the cause of its blindness.
12:14The PEF was formed
12:16by a group of experts
12:18who look at silipadas.
12:20We have with us
12:22a wildlife veterinarian,
12:24Dr. Bayani Vandenbroek,
12:26and an ophthalmologist,
12:28Dr. Janine Villano.
12:35Okay, so...
12:37Let's go inside
12:39the enclosure of the silipadas.
12:41When they go inside,
12:43we need to turn off the lights.
12:45As soon as we catch them,
12:47we can turn them on.
13:00This month,
13:02a fisherman caught
13:04an accidental trap
13:06in Bohe, Tawi-Tawi.
13:08He caught
13:10the largest sea turtle
13:12in the world,
13:14the leatherback.
13:16According to the video uploader,
13:18the fisherman caught
13:20an accidental trap
13:22of a leatherback.
13:24Leatherbacks can be found
13:26in seas
13:28with high temperatures
13:30in the Philippines.
13:32They are considered
13:34critically endangered
13:36because humans
13:38collect their eggs.
13:40Leatherbacks are important
13:42because they maintain
13:44the balance of our marine ecosystem.
13:46They control
13:48the population of jellyfish
13:50or dikya in the ocean.
13:56One of its eyes
13:58has been removed.
14:00It is
14:02the silipadas.
14:08A group of experts
14:10who look at
14:12the silipadas
14:14formed a PEF.
14:16Let's go inside
14:18the enclosure of the silipadas.
14:20When they go inside,
14:22we need to turn off the lights.
14:24As soon as we catch them,
14:26we turn on the lights.
14:32Lights on.
14:34Nice.
14:36That was smooth.
14:38Guys, that was so smooth.
14:48When the heart rate of the silipadas
14:50is normal,
14:52the examination
14:54begins.
15:144.4
15:16The silipadas
15:18were placed properly
15:20during the physical examination.
15:22It's time to look
15:24at its eyes.
15:26First, we removed
15:28the scabs
15:30or the eye discharge
15:32in the right eye of the silipadas.
15:36What do you call this type of
15:38condition in your term?
15:40Most of these cases are traumatic.
15:42Something might have
15:44struck that eye.
15:46We call it ruptured globe.
15:48The contents of the eye
15:50are ruptured.
15:52In the case of our eagle,
15:54the lens came out
15:56at the junction of its core
15:58and sclera,
16:00the outer coats of the eye.
16:02It's possible that the silipadas
16:04was hit by an improvised gun
16:06or slingshot in its eye.
16:10What type of maintenance
16:12would you suggest
16:14in this case?
16:16Grossly, it's not infected.
16:195.4
16:21Last year,
16:23I witnessed the reintroduction
16:25of two Philippine Eagles
16:27in Leyte, Sinausuag
16:29and Cardito.
16:31This is going to be historical
16:33because this is the first time
16:35that a Philippine Eagle
16:37was reintroduced
16:39out of Mindanao area.
16:42Before they were released to the wild,
16:44the Philippine Eagle
16:46was assessed by the Philippine Eagle Foundation.
16:49The DNA analysis showed
16:51that all the Philippine Eagles
16:53from the four islands
16:55are considered one species.
16:57So that's very good for us
16:59because then we can move eagles
17:01from one island to another.
17:03The male eagle was rescued
17:05in Mount Apo
17:07in 2023.
17:09Meanwhile,
17:11in 2022,
17:13in Agusan del Sur,
17:15Carlito was reintroduced
17:17as a female eagle.
17:19Before being released to the wild,
17:21I was given a chance
17:23to examine the two eagles.
17:25Let's see
17:27their heart rate.
17:35All primary feathers
17:37are complete
17:39and none of them
17:41are damaged.
17:45The two eagles
17:47were able to return
17:49and fly freely in the mountains.
18:03But unfortunately,
18:05in August of last year,
18:07the male eagle,
18:09Uswang,
18:11was found dead
18:13on an island in Cebu.
18:15According to an investigation,
18:17it was an accident
18:19that killed Uswang.
18:21It is possible that
18:23due to the strong rain and wind,
18:25Uswang was not able to fly properly.
18:29The king eagle
18:31is a critically endangered species.
18:35According to the latest PEEF,
18:37it is estimated that
18:39400 pairs of Philippine Eagles
18:41will be released to the wild.
18:43That is how they saved
18:45the king eagles.
19:07The Philippine Eagle Foundation
19:09and other organizations
19:11are working hard
19:13to save the king eagle species.
19:21But despite this,
19:23it is still in danger
19:25due to the cruelty of humans.
19:29Hopefully,
19:31we will not be the reason
19:33for the extinction
19:35of Philippine Eagles in the wild.
19:39Thank you for watching
19:41Born to be Wild.
19:43For more stories
19:45about our nature,
19:47please subscribe
19:49to the JMA Public Affairs YouTube channel.