Mindoro is hardly the place you'd imagine when you hear the word SAFARI. I have fond memories of Mindoro, having spent a summer vacation there at a farm where my aunt cultivated sorghum. In Calapan, I hitched rides on the tractors as dawn broke and then swam in the cool pond all afternoon. This was in the late 1960s and early 70s. Now, a certain Jay T. Carlson lures hunters to the island offering nothing more than an opportunity to shoot a live animal. Anything to make a buck. We're not talking lions, tigers, rhinos and leopards here. We're talking about docile, non-aggressive, native water buffaloes who wouldn't even put up a fight if you walked up to them and cut them with a knife. What a pathetic way to get your kicks, and an unconscionable way to make a living! Unfortunately, some hunters have heeded his call, not knowing fully the personal danger they are in. Carlson downplays, quite unfairly, the presence of rebel forces in the area, and the possibility of kidnapping by local cutthroats. At his website, shooters posed beside their kill with utmost pride, proclaiming their unassailable manhood to the world. His WEBSITE is full of these dubious honors, photos taken in the Philippines and abroad. Once again, this is a clear violation of the Philippine Animal Welfare Act of 1998, and this guy should be prosecuted. Obviously, he has become quite comfortable in Mindoro since he built a lookout for his Mindoro Safari and some of the photos include native people, but that does not put him above the law.The money part will make you even madder. This guy charges $11,500 US for a 12-14 day package, promising ten full days of hunting. Now, if you want to kill an extra buffalo, he'll charge you another $1200.00 US! This guy pockets all that money at the expense of Filipino wildlife ( they'll shoot boars too ). Those are OUR native animals, not his. I deeply resent it. Another dead buffalo pictured to the right.
So, what good has come out from the killing of this Filipino animal? To add insult to injury, Jay T. Carlson is planning to open Filipino saltwater crocodiles to hunting in the near future.Remember the Tamaraw? It is native to Mindoro where these guys hunt. Here's an excerpt from the Haribon Foundation's website:
" Even today when the hunting of Tamaraw is strictly prohibited, poachers continue to target this animal. In 2003, members of Bantay-Tamaraw arrested six people for hunting Tamaraw.
Humans have obviously done a lot of damage to Mindoro’s ecology in general, and to the Tamaraw’s survival in particular. However, humans can also do a lot to halt the decline of Mindoro’s environment and prevent the Tamaraw from becoming extinct. "
In other words, Mindoro is a very fragile ecological area. High-flying and high-spending foreign hunters are the last thing Mindoro needs.
Join me in making a complaint with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police. They are the good guys. They have raided dog fighting rings before including one in Antipolo based on the provisions of the Animal Welfare Act.
Send an email or give them a call/tip. Here is their information:
National Headquarters, PNP Camp Crame Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines (0632)722 - 0877/722-0899/724-3956/724-8753 Email : feedback@pnp.gov.ph
You should also send word to the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) who can investigate this matter as well. You can send a message here: http://www.denr.gov.ph/board/
Stop this unbridled killing of Filipino animals. Speak up for those who can't defend themselves. Mindoro Safari is bad for the Philippines. It's your country and your future! Don't let unscrupulous people trample on it. Jay Carlson's email address : mindorosafaris@aol.com
UPDATE: Feb. 29 2008 Sen. Miguel Zubiri calls for the arrest of Mr. Carlson in his speech to the Senate. Read it here: http://onlovinganimals.blogspot.com/2008/02/sen-zubiris-privilege-speech-to-senate.html
Comments
(posted December 04, 2007)
The Hunting Report this morning received a disturbing e-mail from the Philippines indicating that Jay Carlson of Mindoro Safaris has been gored by a buffalo and is in serious medical danger. Carlson, you may remember, is the entrepreneurial PH who opened hunting in the Philippines to international sportsmen several years ago. He offers hunts for Asian water buffalo, bearded pigs and sambar deer, and is working to open saltwater crocodile.
I should note up front here that I have not been able to verify that the e-mail about Carlson being injured is bonafide. I am going public with this unconfirmed report because it appears to be correct, and I want former clients and friends to come forward with contact information and expressions of support for a possible medical evacuation. Anyone with relevant information and/or a desire to help is urged to call The Hunting Report at: 305-670-1361. Bob Kern of The Hunting Consortium, who books some hunts for Carlson, is also involved in the effort to clarify what happened to Carlson and what, if anything, needs to be done to help him. Kern can be reached at 540-955-0090. I have also been in touch with Global Rescue in Boston, alerting them of the possible need of a medical evacuation. Global Rescue can be reached at 800-381-9754.
As this is written, I have also called the American Embassy in Manila, and alerted the Duty Officer there that Carlson is thought to be receiving emergency care in the town of Calapan on the island of Mindoro. It was 12:30 am local time when I called, and the Duty Officer said he was not able to reach anyone in Calapan to verify or discount the report. He said the embassy would keep calling and would let me know when contact with Carlson had been established. The Duty Office pointed out that medical care in The Philippines is very advanced and Carlson was probably receiving adequate care even though Calapan is a small town. If he can be transported to Manila, he said, first rate care would be available.
The e-mail we received this morning was from an individual by the name of Elon Ramon Elize. The e-mail had the return address of Mindoro Safaris. Copies were sent to several individuals who we know have hunted with Carlson in the past. These facts suggest that the e-mail is indeed bonafide.
The e-mail, in broken English, says Carlson was pursuing an injured cow buffalo that had attacked a boy in a nearby village. The buffalo charged in thick brush, goring Carlson in the side and dragging him some distance before throwing him into a tree, then pushing him into the ground. The e-mail says Carlson is in "bad condition in a doctor's office, maybe not to live."
More details as they become available. - Don Causey, Editor/Publisher
http://www.huntingreport.com/worldupdate.cfm?articleid=339
More On That Disturbing Report From The Philippines
(posted December 07, 2007)
Has Philippines hunting entrepreneur Jay Carlson really been gored by a buffalo? I reported earlier this week that I had received an e-mail report to that effect. Carlson's previous clients here in the US all received the same report.
It is now three days later, and no one to our knowledge has been able to determine if the report of Carlson being injured is true, or some kind of cruel internet hoax. Here is the latest….
Since the original report about Carlson surfaced last Tuesday, two more e-mails from Carlson's company have gone out, reiterating that Carlson was indeed gravely injured by a buffalo and was in danger of dying. One of the e-mails indicated he had been transferred from Mindoro Island to Manila, where he was admitted to Makati Medical Center. Trouble is, there is no record of Carlson being admitted to that hospital. I know because I called the medical center myself. So did the US Embassy in Manila.
So, where is Carlson, and who is sending out those alarming reports? One of the e-mails made specific mention of booked hunts and how deposits would be returned to hunters in the near future. Indeed, the hunting season is about to begin in the Philippines and it is time for clients to have their tickets bought. Obviously, no one should get on a plane right now with an eye toward hunting with Jay Carlson.
The mystery over Carlson's whereabouts deepened this morning when I called the Duty Officer at the US Embassy in Manila, John Wolcott. He said the embassy had been trying hard to determine where Carlson is and whether he needed assistance. One of the calls the embassy made was to the Bureau of Immigration. Turns out there is no record of Carlson being in the country since last year!
But hold the phone. Before you jump to the conclusion that the e-mails are clearly all a hoax, consider the fact that I personally reached an individual in Manila yesterday who identified himself as a friend of Carlson. He said Carlson had called him just days ago from a local cell phone. No, he did not have a number for Carlson, but he would tell Carlson to call us if he phoned again.
The latest developments make me glad I identified the original e-mail as being un-corroborated. And let me do that again right here: I do not know where Carlson is at present, what his condition is, or who is sending out those disturbing e-mails. This is a real international hunting mystery. Stay tuned. - Don Causey, Editor/Publisher.
about Mr. Carlson and his alleged benevolence towards those grieviously underpaid guides and their families. Mr. Carlson is not the Albert Schweitzer of his time. He is a killer of innocent animals. And like his clients, Carlson is a criminal under the provisions of the Philippine Animal Welfare Act.
There is no exchange program wherein someone is exonerated of a crime because of a kind gesture given at some other time and place. Senator Migs Zubiri, on the Senate floor, has called for his arrest and deportation when found. The Philippine National Police and the Dept. of Environmental
and Natural Resources have been alerted. Philippine wildlife is not for his killing, not for his profit, and not for his enjoyment.
More information will be appreciated.
When wildlife has more value to the community alive than it does poached then they will do everything to protect it. You may say that this is an oxymoron but statisics show that hunters are more prolific animal conservasionist than all other groups combined. It is monetarily more prosperous to have large numbers of animals for paying hunters to hunt than small numbers. What these safaris bring to the local population is what the governments in these third world nations can not seem to do and that is employment, higher wages, medical schools. Do your research of the safari belts of Africa before a flatline condemnation of an operation. Understand that the animals will die anyway but if there is added value in there being more of them and healthier populations that is excactly what you will get. The problem with the endangered species is that they have no monetary value to the locals except what they can sell on the black market. Which by it's very nature if it's illegal then the price is going to go up which gives poachers an incintive to continue murdering them to the last one. Just ask the Elephant, black and White Rino. Check the countries of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Swaziland. If the safari industry is controlled much like it is in Africa I would guarentee you would see the resurgence the Tamaraws. I'm not condoning the act as I understand that at present it is illegal in the Philippines to hunt but just a thought that could be a great help to those islands light years away from the traffic of Manila.