Bats take flight as 'Damar' trees die in Bogor garden

BOGOR (JP): Dozens of Agathis (Araucareaceae) trees, most of which are hundreds of years old, at the Bogor Botanical Gardens are feared to be dead as a large number of their barks have been peeled away by visitors, who use them for amulets.

Many of the visitors believed the barks of the Damar trees, as locals call them, brought luck to their businesses, an official of the park said on Saturday.

Following the possible extinction of the old trees from the botanical gardens, the fate of thousands of bats (Pteroupus Vampyrus) at the park could be endangered since they are losing their nesting places.

The Agathis trees have long been used by the bats, whose wing spans can reach as long as one meter and have a flying speed of 60 kilometers per hour, as their favorite nesting site.

The trees can reach some 20 meters high.

According to the official, who asked not to be named, about 1,000 bats have migrated outside the park following the loss of their habitat and it is feared that they will disappear from the vast botanical gardens.

"Besides playing a role in natural ecosystem, as bats help spread the seeds of plants, they are also rare species that need to be protected," he said.

Based on a field observation, the trees in the park were also dying because of their age. Many of their branches were already broken as they could no longer bear the weight of the bats which hung on them in large groups.

Park officials have even built fences around the trees to avoid their further destruction.

The Bogor Botanical Gardens, which is home to 12,128 plant specimens from 1,281 genera or 203 families, has been dubbed as the botanical gardens with the largest collection in the world.

But the garden's administration chief I.B.K. Arsana denied the story, saying that the trees, together with others trees in the gardens such as pine trees, had always died slowly because of the heavy presence of the bats.

"Besides the Damar trees, there are other trees of some 70 years old which have also had a similar situation," he said.

Those trees died because of old age and rotten roots, Arsana said, adding that none of the trees or their barks had been reported stolen or damaged by visitors.

"If a visitor is caught stealing the Damar barks, we'll bring them to the police," Arsana said.

Souvenir traders in the garden, however, said that many of the Damar barks were offered and sold around the park as people believed in its magic charm.

"People say if they posses the bark of the trees, their businesses will grow and be successful with many customers, just like a group of bats crawling on the trees," Asep, a souvenir seller, said.

Asep, however, said that he never stole the bark from the gardens.

"The park guards are good friends of mine," he said.

But, he said, many visitors had stolen them from time to time. (21/edt)