Importance to humans

Economical and commercial value

While not as heavily exploited as other large, endangered mammals, the tamaraw population on Mindoro was subject to some harvesting pressure from subsistence hunters before conservation efforts were spurred towards the latter half of the 20th century. The IUCN has described this as still ongoing in their 2006 Red List report.^[3]

In Philippine culture

The tamaraw on an out-of-circulation edition of the 1-peso coin.

Though the national animal of the Philippines is the carabao,^[38] the tamaraw is also considered a national symbol of the Philippines. An image of the animal is found on the 1980-to-early-1990 version of the one-Peso coins.^[39]
In 2004, Proclamation No. 692 was enacted to make October 1 a special working holiday in the province of Occidental Mindoro. In line with the Tamaraw Conservation Month, the proclamation aimed to remind the people of Mindoro the importance of the conservation of the tamaraw and its environment.^[40]
In the 1970s Toyota Motors, through the defunct local company Delta Motors, built the Tamaraw AUV (Asian Utility Vehicle). Because of its ruggedness and simplicity of design, some examples still survive to this day, copied by multinational companies Ford, General Motors, and Nissan, through local subsidiary manufacturers to this day. Because it is an Asian Utility Vehicle, it shares its design with the Kijang, the Indonesian version. Automobile maker Toyota once held a franchise in the Philippine Basketball Association, naming its team the Toyota Tamaraws (see below).
During the wake of the Asian utility popularity in the 1990s, Toyota Motors Philippines released an Asian Utility Vehicle) called Tamaraw FX in the Philippines, an evolution of the Tamaraw AUV. It was widely patronized by taxi operators and was immediately turned into a staple mode of transportation much like a cross of the taxi and the jeepney. The FX eventually evolved into the Revo.
The tamaraw is also the mascot of the varsity teams of the Far Eastern University (FEU Tamaraws) in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, and of the Toyota Tamaraws of the Philippine Basketball Association.
The Tamaraw Falls in Barangay Villaflor, Puerto Galera were also named after the bovine.