Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, contains the world’s greatest concentration of unique species of mammals. Of 56 non-flying mammals now known to live on Luzon island, 52 are found nowhere else on Earth.
Reading about these endemic mammals inspired me to write a little poem:
There are islands in the sky
where foxes have wings and fly.
Rats run amongst the clouds
which cover the forest with misty shrouds
and tiny bats snooze
inside shoots of bamboos.
Mice grow their whiskers from their noses
to the tips of their toes’s
and search under ferns
for juicy worms.
Where are these animals from?
Only the mountain-top islands of Luzon.
— Sky Islands of Luzon —
by Rachel Shaw
Banahaw tree mouse (Musseromys gulantang)
Mount Banahaw (my photo from my first visit to the Philippines in 2009)
Click on the picture to see my picture books featuring wildlife found only in the Philippines:
Rachel L Shaw 