Committed ranger and macaque tamer

Committed ranger and macaque tamer

Andi Hajramurni, Makassar

He has spent over half his life taking care of the 1,000-hectare
Karaenta Nature Reserve.

No wonder, Haro, 48, knows everything about the forest located
in Kampung Kappang, Labuaja village, Cendrana district, Maros
regency, some 60 kilometers east of Makassar, South Sulawesi. He
can even communicate with macaques, Karaenta's black monkeys
(Macaca maura).

Even before he was appointed a ranger in 1978, Haro was
already determined to guard the reserve against all threats such
as forest fires and poachers. It is not an easy job in view of
the vast area of Karaenta, which is crossed by regency and
provincial roads in South Sulawesi, which pose major hazards to
flora and fauna.

Its pristine forest with cool air, and a 2,200-meter quartz
mountain range with 122 caves, are very attractive features,
while its topography varies from smooth, undulating land to
mountainous areas with 10 percent to 80 percent gradients, and
50-meter to 375-meter elevations mostly composed of reddish
lithosol soil.

Apart from its black macaques, Karaenta is also the habitat of
endemic and rare species like the tarsier, a small, monkey-like
mammal with large eyes, deer (Cervus timorensis), rangkong, that
resemble hornbills (Rhyticeros cassidix), boars and pythons.
Among its notable plants are banyan, bitti (Vitex cofaccus), teak
and candlenut.

Haro has three other fellow forest keepers assigned by the
South Sulawesi Natural Resources Conservation Center to protect
the reserve that is best known for its black monkeys. But unlike
Haro, who lives not far from Karaenta, his colleagues keep guard
only occasionally because of the remoteness of their homes.

The father of three has never complained about his exhausting
duty. He is married to Rustiah, and the protected zone has become
an important part of his life, which has to be taken care of
despite the lack of financial compensation.

It is as meaningful as looking after his wife and children:
Irnawati, 20, an Islamic college student, Hendra, 18, a high
school dropout and Yusnidar, 13, a secondary school student.

Armed with a dagger, he rides a motorcycle provided by the
local administration to inspect every corner of the forest almost
daily. "With trunk roads crossing the zone, it's easy for
unscrupulous people to cause damage to the forest or hunt
protected species," he said.

Haro's forest job began when he served as a part-timer with
the provincial forestry office in 1972 on a reforestation project
in Bengo-Bengo, Maros regency. When Karaenta was declared a
nature reserve in 1976, he joined with a team from the
agriculture ministry's planning agency (now the forestry
ministry's forest mapping center).

In 1978, he moved to the Nature Conservation Agency (PPA) and
was appointed Karaenta's forest ranger, being formally made a
government civil servant eight years later.

Since then, Haro has developed a deep awareness of the vital
role of forests in human existence, which makes its conservation
mandatory. He has also enjoyed living amid the diverse species of
wildlife and vegetation.

"I've always found it enjoyable to live in the forest, not
only for its fresh air, fauna and flora, but also as a source of
livelihood for my family," he said when interviewed in Karaenta
recently.

As a low-ranking civil servant, Haro cannot afford to support
his family and children's education on his monthly salary of
around Rp 800,000. To cover the deficit, his wife has opened a
food stall in the house yard and sells candlenuts gathered from
the forest. Haro sometimes gets given some money from tourists
visiting Karaenta, particularly when he calls macaques to cluster
around the visitors.

His daily life in the wild has aroused his curiosity about the
plant and animal species found in the forest. Although only
educated to primary school, he has continued his education by
reading books and learning from researchers who come to survey
the area. Every once in a while local and foreign experts ask him
to assist them certain species of plants for study.

Macaques have drawn the interest of visiting scientists most
of all. According to Haro, three researchers from Japan have
studied the primates since his assignment to the forest.

They are Kuino Watanabe and Brotoisworo, who compiled their
Field Observation of Sulawesi Macaques (1982), and Preliminary
Report on Sulawesi Macaques -- their distribution and inter-
specific differences (1985), published by Kyoto University's
Overseas Research Report of Studies on Asian Non-Human Primates.

The other expert who carried out the similar research was
Suichi Matsumura, who produced A Preliminary Report on the
Ecology and Social Behavior of Moor Macaques in Sulawesi,
Indonesia, published by Kyoto University's Primates Research
Institute in 1991.

Haro's love of nature is manifested in his ability to tame
macaques. By whistling a tune, he can attract dozens of the black
monkeys to come close to him. He developed the skill when
accompanying a Japanese researcher. "He asked me to catch several
monkeys for study. I was even bitten by one of them at that
time," Haro recalled.

After the study, Haro released the macaques. But out of
curiosity, he kept one in order to observe its behavior and learn
its squeals as the primates' communication language.

"It was very difficult at first. Gradually the monkeys began
to recognize my whistles. Now I hang bananas and toss corn on the
ground to detect their presence before whistling," he explained.

When they hear Haro's whistles the monkeys flock together from
different directions and pick up the corn he tosses around,
sometimes fighting with each other.

Their fine, black fur and unique faces are pleasant to watch,
yet these macaques remain alert while eating and will back away
if they hear loud noises or see sudden movements.

Once Haro was very close to the primates, even putting food
onto their palms. Later, however, he decided to keep his distance
from them so they would not become too domesticated, for fear
they would be easily captured by poachers. The other reason is
his lack of money to buy corn for macaques, as Haro does not want
to disappoint them when they come closer to him seeking food.

"They should live naturally without getting too close to
people, so that their behavior will remain unchanged and their
existence as protected animals will not be endangered. That's
what I'm trying to preserve," added Haro, nicknamed the Tarzan of
Karaenta.