ANIMAL DIVERSITY

You can find many endangered animals in the region of Eastern Visayas. It is listed as an Endemic Bird Area (EBA). Some of them are:

~The Philippine Eagle (the Philippine bird and the second largest bird in the world),

~The Philippine Cockatoo,

~The Tarsier (found in Leyte and Bohol)

~The Flying Lemur.

Aside from these species, you can find flying foxes, bats, different birds (hornbills, peasants, kingfishers and others), reptiles, amphibians and insects.

The Philippine Eagle

These species are also endangered:

~Anatidae (Garganey and Philippine Duck), Megapodiidae (Philippine Megapode),

~Phasianidae (Blue-breasted Quail and Red Junglefowl).

The Philippine Duck

These species in Northern Samar are endangered:

~102 species of fish belonging to 66 genera, 23 families, 3 sub-orders, 2 orders, 2 sub-classes, and 2 classes.

Some of these fishes are the Atule

mate Cuvier (yellow-tailed scad) and the Plectropomus leopardus Lacepede (coral grouper).

The Visayan Spotted Deer, or Rusa alfredi, is one of the rarest and least known species on deer in the world. It is also the most narrowly distributed. It inhabits the larger Visayan islands of Panay, Negros, Cebu, Guimaras, Leyte, and Samar.

The Philippine Pond Turtle, or Siebenrockiella leytensis, is one of the rarest and least known species of turtles in the world. Only a few specimens of this species is known. It was first discovered in Leyte, after which it was named (scientific). More recently, it is found in the island of Palawan. Currently, it is listed on Critically Endangered (CR) on the IUCN Red List, along with the Philippine Tarsier.

The Philippine Tarsier is one of the most famous species in the Philippines, more commonly known as the smallest primates. Some people believe that they only live in Bohol. However, recent findings state that they also exist in Samar and Leyte. In fact, its population has a higher chance of increasing in these islands than in Bohol. The only difference is that Bohol has been promoting this primate as a part of their ecotourism, while the Visayan islands still have them up in the wild.

Mount Pangasugan is considered “the last forest frontier in Eastern Visayas”. It is found in Baybay, Leyte and is one of the many rainforests found in the region. It is home to animals and species endemic to leyte.

In this mountain, a total of 216 species of birds were discovered, a number of them almost extinct. It is also home to the Philippine eagle-owl, Philippine hawk-eagle, Rufous Lord kingfisher, Philippine leafbird and miniature tit-babbler.