Photos

The Carabao, Bubalus bubalis carabanesis (Filipino: Kalabaw), is the domesticated subspecies of the water buffalo found in most parts of SE-Asia. Carabaos are usually used by farmers to plow their rice fields or pull heavy loads, so they are very much a part of their everyday lives in the rural areas of the country.

Of the same subfamily in taxonomy is the endemic Tamaraw (Bubalus mindorensis) or Mindoro Dwarf Buffalo:
From Wikipedia:
"It is endemic to the island of Mindoro in the Philippines and is the only endemic Philippine bovine. It is believed, however, to have once also thrived on the greater island of Luzon. The tamaraw was originally found all over Mindoro, from sea level up to the mountains (2000 meters above sea level), but because of human habitation, hunting, and logging, it is now restricted to only a few remote grassy plains and is now an endangered species.
Contrary to common belief and past classification, the tamaraw is not a subspecies of the local carabao, which is only slightly larger, or the common water buffalo. In contrast to the carabao, it has a number of distinguishing characteristics: it is slightly hairier, has light markings on its face, is not gregarious, and has shorter horns that are somewhat V-shaped. It is the largest native terrestrial mammal in the country."

This shot was taken in the Municipality of Puerto Galera sometime in the Summer of 1996, more known to tourists as a snorkel and scuba diving destination with the towns like White Beach, Sabang Beach, Coco Loco Island and so on. Like the first photo, A Poor Man's Fish, this is a digitally converted analogue photo using a digital camera, not from a scanner.

Not known to many visitors, Puerto Galera is a source of marble and formerly 40 or 50 years ago also a major gold area. The rock formation of this part of Mindoro is aged at the Paleozoic Era and during those times was part, along with the northern areas of Palawan (north of Ulugan Bay), of continental southeastern China.