- Title: INDONESIA: Tiny monkey faces extinction
- Date: 1st June 2009
- Summary: TANGKOKO, NORTH SULAWESI PROVINCE, INDONESIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) TARSIER CLINGING ONTO BRANCH TARSIER ATTACKS GRASSHOPPER FISHERMAN HESTIA SANTIAGO STANDING BY TREE (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) FISHERMAN, HESTIA SANTIAGO, SAYING: "The people do not kill tarsiers. They are killed by pythons or by owls," VARIOUS OF TARSIER ON TREE BRANCHES (SOUNDBITE) (English) CONS
- Embargoed: 16th June 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Indonesia
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVA6ATUMPBYJWHQVF4ZVED16A88S
- Story Text: Tarsiers, one of the world's smallest monkeys, is facing the threat of extinction in Indonesia with the destruction of their natural habitat.
Tarsiers, one of the smallest monkey species on earth and found only in South East Asia, may be on the brink of extinction in Indonesia's forested Sulawesi island as the lucrative timber industry and increased agriculture activity threatens their habitat.
Tarsiers are nocturnal creatures that build nests inside trees and live with their family. It has a body about the size of fist, a long tail and resembles a rat or a squirrel.
Tarsiers do not keep well in zoos and most die within weeks of being captured. They are protected under Indonesian and international law.
While the tarsier population size in Indonesia is unknown, evidence collected by conservationinsts, suggest their numbers are shrinking.
Previously, the tiny monkey, scientifically known as tarsius spectrum and seen as the intermediate stage between very early primates and humans, had only natural enemies such as owls and snakes to fear.
But now, logging and land clearing by timber merchants is destroying their habitat and an increased usage of herbicides and pesticides in agriculture is threatening the tarsier's food supply.
The tarsier is the only primate in the world that does not eat plants. It lives on insects like lizards, grasshoppers, worms, crickets, flies and mosquitoes.
Conservationist Johnny Tasirin from Manado's Sam Ratulangie University who is also programme coordinator of Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) on Sulawesi island, says tarsiers are easily affected by changes to its habitat.
"Tarsiers are very delicate animals. They like to live in very specific areas. So if you disturb the area, you disturb the habitat. They tend to go away from that. So that means if the habitat is degraded the tarsier population also will be decrease. So it is very bad if we do something to the habitat," he said.
"On this island of Sulawesi we have so many different kind of tarsiers. And actually the distribution of tarsiers itself, it's only limited to the islands of Sulawesi, Kalimantan and south of the Philippines," Tasirin added.
By examining and counting the nests, and from other signs, Conservationist Johnny Tasirin estimated that about 800-1200 tarsiers live in Tangkoko forest.
In some places on the island, people hunt the primate for sport, but fisherman Hestia Santiago, 38, who lives near the forest reserve, is doing his bit to help protect the tarsiers.
"The people do not kill tarsiers. They are killed by pythons or by owls," he said.
When he is not fishing, Santiago works as guide for visitors who venture out into the forest after dark to look for the tarsiers. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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