Sulawesi tarsiers threatened with extinction

Sulawesi tarsiers threatened with extinction

Badri Jawara, The Jakarta Post, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Belonging to the family of small primates, a tarsier has a
body that measures about 20 centimeters in length and resembles a
rat or a squirrel. Its tail is longer than its body, and its head
is slightly round. The tarsier has eyes that are round and sharp,
with large irises like those of an owl.

A female tarsier is pregnant for 6 months before giving birth.
Then, like a baby monkey, a baby tarsier is breast-fed by the
mother.

An arboreal animal, it jumps from one tree to another like a
squirrel, using its feet, which resemble those of a rabbit. A
tarsier lives on lizards, grasshoppers, worms, crickets, flies,
mosquitoes and other insects. Like an owl, it is a nocturnal
animal: sleeping during the day and looking for its food at
night.

Tarsiers, which are among the world's smallest primates, are a
protected species. The total tarsier population in Sulawesi has
never been calculated.

But the animal is much easier to spot in Central Sulawesi than
the region's other rare and unique animals, like deer-hogs and
anoa (dwarf buffaloes).

"A census has yet to be conducted on tarsiers and other
animals endemic to this province. One of the reasons is a lack of
both funds and the necessary equipment," M.Z. Hudiyono, the head
of Central Sulawesi's natural resources conservation center,
said.

Despite its status as a protected species, tarsiers enjoy less
attention and care than other rare species in Central Sulawesi,
like deer-hogs and anoa. Physically, tarsiers are not attractive
enough to be in demand as pets, so they are generally safe from
hunters. The tarsier population has dropped because its habitat
has been damaged by logging and land clearing.

Compared with other animals, there has been little research
about tarsiers. In Indonesia, a study of this animal was not
conducted until 1994, when the Center for Primate Studies at the
Agricultural Institute of Bogor and the Indonesian Safari Park in
Cisarua teamed up to do some research on tarsiers.

This 1994 study recommended the captive breeding of tarsiers
because their habitat had been damaged by logging. Unfortunately,
it was found that tarsiers born in captivity grew very slowly.

There is no definite data about the size of the entire tarsier
population in the world. Perhaps, the number is larger than
current estimates. The results of a number of studies on the
animal shows that there are three species of tarsiers: Tarsius
Bancanus in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Tarsius Spectrum in Sulawesi,
particularly in the Lore Lindu National Park, and Tarsius
Syrichta, which is found only in the Philippines. These species
are also divided into a number of sub-species. The largest number
of sub-species -- 44 -- is found in Sulawesi, particularly in
Central Sulawesi, said Hudiyono.

Many years ago, he said, tarsiers could still be found in
Java, particularly in West Java. Today, however, there are no
longer tarsier sightings in Java, and it is thought the animal
has disappeared for good from the island. And unless logging is
controlled, tarsiers will some day just be animals from the past.

Luckily, in Sulawesi, tarsiers are still enjoying their
freedom in the thick forests. But even here, if forest clearing
is allowed to continue unabated, the tarsier population will
continue to fall.

Sulawesi can today still boast of its diversified rare flora
and fauna. Deer-hogs and anoas are good examples, as they can be
found nowhere else in the world.

Tarsiers are not highly sought after as pets, nor do farmers
view them as crop-destroying pests. This rare animal attracts the
scientists, though.

Hudiyono said the Lore Lindu National Park was the area with
the largest number of tarsiers. In Sumatra and Kalimantan, there
are some tarsiers, but their numbers are not as high as in
Sulawesi.

Research conducted by R.P. Agus Lelana, a veterinary surgeon
at the Center for Primates Studies, concluded that tarsiers were
primates in a transition from simple primates to a more advanced
species. The tarsier begins to mate at the age of six.

The question is whether this small primate will eventually
become extinct. Of course, the answer lies in our wisdom in
conserving our forests. As long as there are forests, the
tarsier will survive. But once the forests are gone, this animal
will have lost its natural habitat and will have become extinct.

Today, the Central Sulawesi's Center for Natural Resources
Conservation and the Lore Lindu National Park are developing a
new system to maintain the region's rare and endemic flora and
fauna.

The head of the Lore Lindu National Park, Banjar Yulianto
Laban, called this new system a policy of "eco-populism". He said
that under this system, the involvement of local people in
environmental conservation was a must.

"Eco-populism is the opposite 'eco-fascism', the removal of
indigenous people from the conservation concept," he said.