William first came to the Philippines to study the warty pigs and deer in the 1980’s. He found out that Philippines did not only have one species of deer and warty pig but several kinds with subspecies differences. The warty pigs and deer were almost at the brink of extinction and hardly any attention was given to them. The exciting discovery coupled with a need to conserve the species, was a call for action and became the reason why we decided to stay in the country and do something about it. This is how he came to start the Philippines Biodiversity Conservation Programme in 1991.