Indra Yustian

Ex Situ Conservation of Tarsius Bancanus Saltator on Belitung Island, Indonesia: A Pilot Project Near their Natural Habitat

Belitung tarsier in t-shirt.

Town/RegionCountryCategoriesDate
Gunung Tajam, Belitung Island IndonesiaAsia, Primates7 Jun 2010

Tarsiers receive little conservation attention in its geographic range, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei Darusslam and Philippines. This lack of attention is probably because tarsiers are uncommon, elusive, rarely seen (because of their nocturnal habit), and competes for conservation attention of well-known flagship species, e.g.: Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis), Sumatran tigers (Panthera tigris), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), or orang utans (Pongo pygmaeus).

In Belitung Island, there is no specific area for the conservation of tarsier. Meanwhile, the continuing deterioration of the forest-land in Belitung Island means that there is a high probability of the species becoming more threatened. This ex-situ conservation effort will take place just right their natural habitat in Gunung Tajam, Belitung Island. This pilot project means to hold ex-situ conservation in order to promote the protected forest status of Gunung Tajam Forest to a higher status like Wildlife Reserve or SanctuaryThe pilot study will identify critical resources for tarsiers' survival and adaptation in captivity. Results of this pilot project will provide information to improve the diet assesment, enclosure design with its enrichment and in general the tarsier management in captivity.

This pilot project of ex-situ conservation was hoping to conserve the population of Tarsius bancanus saltator in Belitung Island, and make Tarsius bancanus saltator as the species that deserve a specific area for conservation by promoting the status of protected forest of the Gunung Tajam, Belitung Island into conservation area such as a sanctuary or wildlife reserve. As tarsier becoming one of the ecotourism interest, the ecotourism should impact the incomes of local peoples and local Government.

Read about Indra's previous work http://www.ruffordsmallgrants.org/rsg/projects/indra_yustian or for further information contact idr_yustian@yahoo.com

Project Update: July 2010

Since April 2010, we have conducted preparation of this project. We have contacted the villagers as the land-owner of the proposed captivity. We came to the Belitung Island at the end of May 2010 to discuss more detail of the project. Afterwards, at the end of June 2010, four students came to Belitung Island to do their graduate projects and helping this ex-situ conservation project. The development of captivity started. We developed one temporary (using nylon wire) and one semi permanent (using cage wire and concrete).

In July 2010, we succeeded in capturing one female and two males of Belitung tarsier. Furthermore, we have started our observation of the animals in temporary captivity. After about 3 weeks when the semi-permanent captivity was ready, we transferred one male and one other female into the semi-permanent captivity.

We also conducted an identification of insects density and abundance, as the main prey of tarsier.


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