Mounts Iglit-Baco Natural Park

The tamaraw is found nowhere on earth but Mindoro - a stocky dwarf buffalo, critically endangered, reduced by hunting and habitat loss from tens of thousands to a population counted in the hundreds - and Mounts Iglit-Baco is where most of what remains lives. The park covers grassland and forest in the island's central spine, and its core zone is managed with rangers, Mangyan community agreements and an annual population count each April in which observers spread across the hills at dawn to record animals grazing the slopes. Visiting is not casual tourism: access requires permits through the conservation programme, a long rough journey from Sablayan and a trek to the station, and sightings mean sitting at a viewpoint with binoculars at first light. For those who make the effort, it is one of the few places to see a species that exists in one island's grassland and nowhere else, alongside Mindoro's endemic birds and the Mangyan communities who share the landscape.

What you actually see

• The tamaraw - the endemic dwarf buffalo on the grass slopes.
• The core zone - ranger-guarded grassland and forest.
• The dawn watch - viewpoint observation at first light.
• The Mangyan presence - communities within the landscape.

When to go

March to May for accessible tracks; April brings the annual count, when the park is busiest with researchers. The wet season makes the approach impassable.

Honest expectations

Permits and arrangements take time and the journey is long and rough. Sightings are distant and never guaranteed. This is a conservation area first - follow ranger instructions to the letter.

Nearby

Sablayan's Apo Reef trips and the Mindoro west coast are the region's other draws.