Photograph by Gab Mejia“Everywhere you go in the Philippines, you’re going to be surrounded by nature,” Mejia says. “Each island you travel to will have different species.”Island living tends to encourage speciation—or the divergence of one species into two or more lineages. But this ecological paradise is also under attack, with more than 700 of its native species considered threatened by extinction, as a result of overharvesting, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation. And the global pandemic may be making things even worse, as conservation organizations have noted upticks in both illegal fishing and poaching of rare plants.How do we decide which species are endangered or threatened?The good news is that, in recent years, home-grown efforts to save many of these creatures and their habitats have proliferated. And when it is done sustainably, biodiversity tourism at national parks can help boost these efforts by channeling money to local conservation groups, ensuring that they have enough support to fund patrols, buy tracts of land, and even breed rare species in captivity.COVID-19 has put a damper on travel, but once it’s safe, conservation-minded travelers can discover these four national parks in the Philippines that host four of the rarest yet charismatic wildlife found only here.Tarsiers: small and ultrasonicThe Philippine tarsier is the world’s second smallest primate and has been known to Western scientists since it was first described way back in 1894. But one aspect has remained a mystery until recently.On some occasions when a researcher would pick up one of the candy bar–size primates, the animal would open its mouth wide as if it were howling, but no sound would come out. The behavior was considered espeically weird because the species was already known to produce a handful of other audible vocalizations, including a piercing shriek and a soft trill that sounds like bird song.To save the Earth, half of all land must be kept in a natural state.The mystery was solved in 2012 when scientists revealed that the Philippine tarsier actually communicates in ultrasound, or sound frequencies so high they exceed human hearing. The tarsiers’ stress-induced screams weren’t silent after all; they were simply akin to a dog whistle.Amazingly, tourists can actually catch a glimpse of these near-threatened, nocturnal primates in the wild—if they know where to look.A Philippine tarsier perks up at the sound of a hidden insect moving among the leaves of a forest in Bohol. The tarsier’s hearing abilities are more acute than any other primate., We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us., But this ecological paradise is also under attack, with more than 700 of its native species considered threatened by extinction, as a result of overharvesting, habitat loss, and habitat fragmentation..