Dr Nancy Priston

These forests are not just full of monkeys, there’s plenty of other flora and fauna out here too so I thought it was about time some of the other animals got a look in.

The only other primate species on the island is the Tarsier. These are small (about the size of a clenched fist), nocturnal, insect eating primates. They live in small groups and spend their days holed up in fig trees, liana tangles or in the limestone karst rocks (which are full of holes). They come out at dusk and go off to forage, returning to their sleeping site at dawn. If you’re lucky you can see them as they leave their sleeping tree at dusk. They have a distinctive chirping call and as they leave to go foraging they call to one another. Interesting fact: one eyeball is larger than their stomach- which is why they can see so well in the dark. Imagine how big our eyes would be if they were bigger than out stomachs! They also have an elongated tarsal bone (ankle bone) which gives them their name and enables them to jump enormous distances.

Tarsier hello!

Tarsier grin

Other vertebrates in the forest include the Anoa – a critically endangered forest buffalo. It is rarely seen and in my 13 years at the field site I’ve only ever seen 2 live individuals. Sadly I’ve seen more hunted individuals.

Sulawesi warty pigs are the other large vertebrate. They are also a big crop-pest – worse than the monkeys. They live in small groups and often come out into the coconut plantations and farmland. They can be quite aggressive, particularly the big males.

sulawesi warty pig - adult male

adult male peering out from behind a coconut palm

two young pigs

well camouflaged baby pigs

Other mammals in the forest include the bear cuscus – rather like a marsupial sloth, the dwarf cuscus (nocturnal and rarely seen), a host of forest rats, bats and squirrels and the introduced malay civet.

squirrel

cuscus