Kalimantan's proboscis monkeys close to extinction

Kalimantan's proboscis monkeys close to extinction

By Hasan Zainuddin

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan (Antara): The proboscis monkey
in Kalimantan is on the brink of extinction due to the rapid loss
of its habitat.

Kaget island in Barito Kuala regency, South Kalimantan, was
once expected to serve as the last sanctuary for the big, reddish
golden skinned, long-nosed primate. But the island's forest is
dying.

The number of rambai (Soneratha cosiolaris) trees, which bear
edible fruit which is a staple food of the proboscis monkey, has
been fast dwindling since 1997.

The mass death of the vital trees has triggered panic among
environmentalists and officials. They assume it precedes the
extinction of the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus), which have
been protected by law since 1972.

South Kalimantan Governor Gusti Hasan Aman has ordered
relevant officials and experts from Lambung Mangkurat University
to conduct research on how save the animals from extinction.

The research report says that the rambai trees died because
the proboscis monkeys had reproduced too fast in their small
habitat and they had devoured every leaf of every tree.

The 267-hectare Kaget island has lost 182 hectares of mainly
rambai trees. The land the trees once stood on has been turned
into agricultural farms. Reforestation has been implemented but
to no avail.

Meanwhile, the panicky officials have tried every way possible
to save the animals. One controversial tactic was to move 86 of
the 127 surviving proboscis monkeys to Surabaya Zoo in East Java
last year. The evacuation operation turned out to be disastrous
because 25 of the animals died on the way to Surabaya and another
37 died in the zoo.

The death of so many proboscis monkeys in the rescue operation
triggered a wave of protests from various quarters. A group of
animal lovers from Malang, East Java, staged a demonstration at
the zoo, demanding that the remaining animals be returned to
Kaget island.

Governor Hasan Aman was also furious and pressed the same
demand.

Achmad Arifin, a proboscis monkey lover and a tourist guide to
Kaget island, is among those condemning the loss of the exotic
animals. He said the monkeys were mishandled.

"They should have carefully learned basic things about the
primates before they decided to evacuate them," he said.

He witnessed the research on the primate habitat and
population and considered it all badly implemented. He cast doubt
on the finding that the rambai trees died because "they had all
their leaves devoured by the proboscis monkeys".

There have been different estimates on the number of proboscis
monkeys on Kaget island. According to the Ministry of Forestry's
South Kalimantan office, the animals numbered 115 in 1990. But in
its 1997 research, a team of experts from Lambung Mangkurat
University reported that the number was 304.

Then in 1998, the team in charge of evacuation found only 127
proboscis monkeys.

"These greatly different versions show that the 1997 research
was wildly inaccurate," said Arifin. "The report was made only to
give credence to its claim that Kaget island was overpopulated by
proboscis monkeys."

Besides, he said, how is it possible that about 115 proboscis
monkeys multiplied to 304 only in seven years and then decreased
again to 127 a year later?

Arifin said he doubted the researchers' claim that the rambai
trees had all their leaves eaten by the animals. He says he
noticed that the leaves had turned brown and had fallen to the
ground. The fallen leaves were abundant on the ground and in
ditches.

He theorizes that the trees probably died due to increased
industrial waste released into Barito River by factories along
its banks and also because of the herbicide used by farmers to
control pests.

Dozens of factories have been built along both sides of Barito
River. It is understood that they dump their industrial waste
into the river.

Arifin also says the replanting of rambai trees initiated by
the government to save the proboscis monkey was a shoddy project.
Seedlings were planted and left without proper care.

"I saw the replanted areas were left high and dry. They became
overgrown by grass and then died."

Arifin questioned the policy of evacuating the large number of
proboscis monkeys to Surabaya Zoo instead of to areas which have
similar conditions to Kaget island, such as Tanjung Puting in
Central Kalimantan, which has a orangutan breeding center.

There have been doubts over how many proboscis monkeys died on
their way to Surabaya and in the zoo because the authorities did
not issue any official reports on the matter.

"There has been speculation that the animals were in fact
exported to a country which needed them for research purposes,"
Arifin said.