Tarsiers: ‘Spirits’ in the jungle night
Published on: Tuesday, February 19, 2019
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Well, maybe that feeling is explained by the extraordinary, nocturnal and very cute creature called the tarsier. With huge eyes the same size as its brain, long spindly fingers and its ability to leap silently through the forest, it is no wonder it has been considered a “spiritual” creature and something from another world.
In fact the Tarsier is a primate, just like humans. In the second episode of Borneo Jungle Diaries – Season 2, local presenter Alex Alexander tiptoes into the darkness of the forest to learn more about these fascinating, freaky creatures.
Host Alex Alexander searching for a tarsier in the jungle night.Mix and Match
There are several different species of Tarsier worldwide but the one found in the forest around the Kinabatangan River is the Bornean subspecies of the Western or Horsfield’s tarsier (Tarsius bancanus borneanus). It is one of only two nocturnal primates found in Borneo, the other being the slow loris.
To find out more about the Bornean tarsier, Alex spoke to Dr Danica Stark at the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), who is an expert in primates in the area. She originally came for her Masters dissertation in 2009 and has been involved with DGFC ever since. Now she was to lead Alex deep into the forest at night on the hunt for these elusive creatures.
Scientist holding a tarsier (Tarsius bancanus borneanus) at night.
The aim was to locate one, carefully tag it and record scientific data on the animal to help further their understanding.
Danica explained why: “Little is known on the population size and ecology of the Bornean tarsier, partially because of their small size and their nocturnal behaviour makes them difficult to see, find and follow.
“Tagging them allows us to find the animals more quickly, and therefore follow them more easily, in order to observe their natural behaviours, like feeding and home range size or habitat requirements.”
There is good reason to find out this information as the tarsier is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN and work needs to be done to find out why. The tarsier is an extraordinary creature and has features that on their own would sound incredible, but all put together make this little critter quite unique. Their eyes are the largest in relation to their body size of any animal but due to their enormity they can’t rotate them, so have adapted to be able to turn their heads more than 180 degrees like an owl.
A tarsier (Tarsius bancanus borneanus) with its giant eyes for excellent nocturnal vision.
Their hind legs are exceptionally long and powerful, meaning it has the ability to jump 40 times its body length, or over five metres in a single leap. This is its main way to catch prey, sitting and waiting to ambush food which it spots with its large eyes, usually insects, frogs and lizards. In fact, it is the only truly carnivorous primate, avoiding plants completely and just eating meat; all this, combined with a hairless long tail and the ability to communicate with ultrasonic screeches and you can see how truly exceptional this creature is.
Alex got to discover up close how amazing these animals are as the scientists at DGFC managed to find a tarsier not long after setting out into the dense jungle (they usually live several feet off the ground, not up in the high canopy).
It was tagged and measured and gives fresh hope to Danica, who said: “Following one individual can lead us to find more individuals (based on any social interactions), and understanding how home ranges of different individuals overlap makes it possible to determine the density of the tarsier population in an area and the potential carrying capacity of the forest they live in.” All vital information if there is to be any hope of safeguarding the population around the Kinabatangan.
The mighty Kinabatangan River.
Much to learn
The Kinabatangan lost 67pc of its forest cover between 1982 and 2014. Not surprisingly, one of the main threats to the tarsier is habitat loss. But it is not the only threat. Tarsiers are taken out of the wild for the illegal pet trade due to their cute and cuddly looks. Tragically, they do not survive well in captivity because of their dietary requirements.
But it is not all doom and gloom. As Danica states: “Borneo is a special place for wildlife. Places like the Kinabatangan are still full of wildlife, despite the fragmentation and deforestation that has gone on around it.
“Thankfully there are so many people in Borneo that are passionate about their wildlife, which gives a lot of hope for the future – people that are trying to work together with industries to repair the damage that has been done in the past and work together to figure out how best to proceed.
We need to stop the situation from getting worse, and therefore hopefully preventing the forest loss and fragmentation from reaching levels that are irreversible. But there is still so much to learn about the animals living in these forests.”
With their large eyes watching over us in the dark jungle night, you can understand why the local name of Kera Hantu or ‘ghost monkey’ has been given to them. Hopefully these ancestral spirits will continue to watch over many future generations to come.
Scientist Danica Stark searching for a tagged tarsier in the forest.
Borneo Jungle Diaries 2 is a series produced by Scubazoo Images and Danau Girang Field Centre and funded by Sime Darby Foundation. To see more of Borneo Jungle Diaries Season 2, please visit www.scubazoo.tv. Follow Scubazoo on Instagram and Facebook: #scubazoo.
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