Aired (March 23, 2025): Ang mga amamaktin o rodent rat na matatagpuan sa Surigao del Norte, kinakain ng mga parokyano?! Ligtas ba itong kainin? Panoorin ang 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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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.