Sulawesi's mascot under threat of extinction

Badri Djawara, Contributor, Palu, Central Sulawesi

Environmentalists in Sulawesi are sounding the alarm for the dwindling population of Maleo, the big bird endemic to the island. They have noted that the Maleo has disappeared in 44 places where they used to be abundant.

Unlike most birds, Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) has the size of a chicken with a white breast and brownish-black feathers and cannot fly a long distance. This bird usually flies from one tree to another, and just like a chicken, it seeks seeds and legumes on the ground.

Maleo birds used to live in nearly regions of Sulawesi. However, the places where the Maleo used to be found are now in a state of neglect.

In Tatongko Dua Saudara, North Sulawesi, for instance, the population of Maleo was reported to have dropped by 80 percent due to uncontrolled egg collection, an activity which has been going on for decades.

A research conducted recently by the Jambata Foundation, a non-governmental organization focusing on Maleo protection, showed that out of 46 locations where Maleo could be found in the western part of Central Sulawesi and the northern part of South Sulawesi, Maleo's existence in 11 sites were considered "threatened" and "very threatened" in 16 sites. In the remaining sites, the birds were still considered safe, simply because they were located in the Lore Lindu National Park.

Palu-based Jambata members also reported that another 44 Maleo habitats have disappeared in the last two decades.

Jambata's director Buttu Ma'dika attributed the disappearance of Maleo from 44 areas where they used to be abundant to excessive collection of Maleo eggs and damage done to the forest area where the unique birds used to live.

"This research shows that the disappearance of Maleo is attributed more to human acts than natural disasters," Buttu said.

Another unique thing about Maleo birds are the way it lays eggs. Although it lives in forests and mountains about 1,200 m above sea level, it will find a lowland area to lay its eggs. Usually, there are two places where they lay eggs: a sandy beach or a sandy river bank. These places must get enough sunshine to warm the eggs.

Although a Maleo is as big as a chicken, its egg is the size of an adult's fist. A Maleo egg is the same as five to six chicken eggs, or weigh about 250 grams. The eggs are kept in warm sand about 60 cm - 70 cm underground. When the mother bird lays her eggs, the male bird will keep watch from a tree and immediately signal its "spouse" in case of danger.

The legs of a pair of Maleo birds are strong enough to allow them to move a cubic meter of sand when making a hole to lay the eggs. In the process, both of the "parents" take turns digging the eggs, including other holes as decoys to keep their eggs from being discovered by predators. That's why those digging for Maleo eggs often find only empty holes.

A pair of Maleo birds can only have, on average, about seven to eight eggs a year, although research data showed at least one pair was able to produce 12. The egg-laying periods are usually in April, October and November. The eggs are usually laid about a week apart. After being warmed by the hot sand, the eggs will hatch between 35 and 75 days after being laid. After the egg is hatched, the infant Maleo chicks will have to make its way up through the sand, to find food and deal with potential dangers on its own.

To this point there is still no conclusive understanding in the scientific community revealing precisely how the infant Maleo gets out of the sand.

Djaling, a Maleo warden at Bakiriang Protected Forest in Banggai regency, Central Sulawesi, theorizes that a Maleo always places its eggs in an upright position and when the egg hatches, the small Maleo will "cut" around the middle of the egg and use the nearly conical shaped top end of the egg as piercing shield/umbrella to plow its way up through the sand. If the shield/umbrella is broken on the way, the baby Maleo will never reach the surface.

At the Lore Lindu National Park, Maleo prefer laying eggs in sandy riverbanks. The locations are safer there than in other places, but there are still a number of poachers who enter the park.

Despite the problems which threaten the bird's existence, efforts to breed it in captivity are still progressing quite slowly, but breeding sites have been set up in Bakiriang, Pantai Toili, Banggai regency; Sausu Piore, Donggala regency; and Tanjung Matop, Buol Regency in Central Sulawesi.

And in these areas, sadly, the threat does not come from illegal hunters but from government officials who visit captive breeding sites and take the eggs. Djaling said that most of them wanted the eggs as "souvenirs" for their bosses.

Buttu acknowledged that some residents were even in collusion with forestry officers to sell Maleo eggs on the market.

These eggs, he said, are offered at Buol market or Toili market at Rp 2,500 to Rp 5,000 each.

"This so-called captive breeding has been implemented only to meet the project requirement set by the government," Buttu added.