A brightly plumaged parrot and a long-tailed forest mouse unique to the country have been discovered in the vanishing rainforest of Camiguin Island, US-based researchers said yesterday.

Camiguin, a volcanic island in northern Mindanao, is a treasure trove of fauna, and already had endemic species of rodents and frogs before the discovery of the rusty brown mouse and the green hanging parrot, known among locals as colasisi.

But Camiguin's wildlife is at risk from deforestation, warned researchers, writing in the latest issue Fieldiana: Zoology, a scientific journal about biodiversity research published by the Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History.

"Knowing that at least 54 species of birds and at least 24 species of mammals live on Camiguin and that some of these animals are found nowhere else on earth, makes us realise how important this island is," said Lawrence Heaney, a curator at the museum. "For these animals to survive, we've got to save the dwindling forests where they live," he said.

Blas Tabaranza Jr, director of the Terrestrial Ecosystems Project of the Haribon Foundation in Manila, said the Philippines was increasingly recognised as a global centre for biodiversity, with exceptionally high levels of endemism or the state of being restricted to or peculiar to a locality or region.

"Unfortunately, the Philippines has also vaulted into notoriety as one of the most severely deforested tropical countries in the world," Tabaranza said.

The Philippines hosts a wealth of endemic flora and fauna, but more than 70 per cent of its forests have been destroyed.

Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network

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