Forest fragments surprising havens for wildlife

AUGUST 9, 2019

by Wildlife Conservation Society

Destruction of tropical rainforests reduces many unprotected habitats to small fragments of remnant forests within agricultural lands, and to date, these remnant forest fragments have been largely disregarded as wildlife habitat.

Researchers conducted camera trap surveys within Sumatra's Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park and five surrounding remnant forest fragments, finding 28 mammal species in the protected forest and 21 in the fragments—including critically endangered species such as Sunda pangolin (Manis javanica) and Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae), along with species of conservation concern such as marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) and Asiatic golden cat (Pardofelis temminckii).

The biodiversity found within the fragments suggests that these small patches of remnant forest may have conservation value to certain mammal species and indicates the importance of further research into the role these habitats may play in landscape-level, multispecies conservation planning.

More information: Sarah R Weiskopf et al, The conservation value of forest fragments in the increasingly agrarian landscape of Sumatra, Environmental Conservation (2019). DOI: 10.1017/S0376892919000195

Provided by Wildlife Conservation Society 

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World's rarest ape on the edge of extinction

Date:  May 3, 2018

Source: James Cook University

Summary:

In a new research article, a team of international researchers argue that the Tapanuli orangutan -- a species discovered last year in Sumatra, Indonesia, and one of the rarest animals on the planet -- could lose its battle for survival, unless decisive steps are taken to rescue it. 'In 40 years of research, I don't think I've ever seen anything this dramatic,' said Professor William Laurance from James Cook University in Australia, leader of the research team.

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Life in the fast flow: Tadpoles of new species rely on 'suction cups' to keep up

The frogs living in the rainforest of Sumatra also represent a new genus

Date:  March 12, 2018

Source:  Pensoft Publishers

Summary:

The young of two new species and a genus of frog found to inhabit Sumatra's rainforests have developed a unique ability to latch onto rocks in the fast-flowing rivers, using bellies crafted by evolution into 'suction cups'. Herpetologists use their remarkable discovery to highlight the unique biodiversity of the island, which is under imminent threat due to rampant habitat modification and deforestation.

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Tigers cling to survival in Sumatra's increasingly fragmented forests

Date:  December 5, 2017

Source:  University of California - Berkeley

Summary:

A research expedition tracked endangered tigers through the Sumatran jungles for a year and found tigers are clinging to survival in low density populations. The study found that well-protected forests are disappearing and are increasingly fragmented: Of the habitat tigers rely on in Sumatra, 17 percent was deforested between 2000 to 2012 alone. Their findings have renewed fears about the possible extinction of the elusive predators.

Read on  

Orangutan population up but threats remain

By Helen BriggsBBC News

4 March 2016 

There are more Sumatran orangutans in the wild than previously thought, according to a new survey.

The latest estimate puts the population at about 14,600 - more than twice the previous figure, based on a survey of nests where the apes sleep.

Ecologists say the rise is not due to population growth but because some apes were missed in past surveys.

The species remains at serious threat from poaching and loss of forests, they report in Science Advances.

Orangutans are the world's largest tree-climbing mammal - and Asia's only great ape.

They were once found across South East Asia, but today are confined to two islands, Borneo and Sumatra.

Their forest habitat is rapidly disappearing, putting their future in jeopardy.

Higher estimate

Until now, the total Sumatran orangutan population was put at 6,600 individuals, based on data from 2004.

In the new survey in 2015, orangutans were found in unexpected places, including at higher altitudes in the mountains, forests recovering from logging and areas west of the Toba Lake that had not been previously examined.

An international team of scientists says that while there are evidently more Sumatran orangutans remaining in the wild than once thought, the species remains under serious threat.

It is very important that these findings are not interpreted as suggesting that numbers have increased, nor that their range has expanded, the group reports.

"The known current range is now 17,797 sq km (6,871 sq miles), roughly 2.56 times larger," said a team led by Serge Wich, professor of primate biology at Liverpool John Moores University.

"Since 2004, Sumatran orangutan numbers have undoubtedly declined, and they continue to do so at an alarming rate because of ongoing deforestation and poaching/persecution," they wrote in Science Advances.

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94 pangolins released in Sumatra following huge illegal wildlife seizure

Trafficked pangolins are freed as Indonesian ministers urged harsher penalties to deter illegal wildlife trade, reports Mongabay

Ayat S. Karokaro for Mongabay, part of the Guardian Environment Network

Tuesday 5 May 2015 11.51 BSTLast modified on Tuesday 5 May 201512.09 BST

Following a major seizure of illegal wildlife goods in North Sumatra, the Indonesian authorities released 94 pangolins into the wild last week, including a newborn whose mother died shortly after the authorities caught up with the traffickers.

Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya flew to the provincial capital of Medan to witness the burning of five tons of pangolin meat which had been confiscated along with 77 kilograms (169 pounds) of pangolin scales and the live animals.

The minister urged judges to hand down harsher punishments to serve as a deterrent.

“In Palembang (the capital of Jambi province), the prosecutor demanded the maximum penalty of five years and Rp500 million ($38,000),” she said. “We expect the same for this network in Medan.”

At present, offenders get an average of eight months behind bars and Rp10 million. “That’s the reason illegal wildlife networks stay in business,” said Irma Hermawati, a legal advisor from the nonprofit Wildlife Conservation Society.

Read more ...

British tree surgeons to teach Sumatran orangutan rescuers how to climb trees

Scientists estimate that 1,000 orangutans are poached every year, despite being a protected species

By Lyndsey Telford

5:24PM GMT 15 Mar 2015

British tree surgeons are to be sent to Sumatra to teach local orangutan rescuers tree-climbing skills.

The apes are endangered and need help as they get stuck in limited forest where surrounding trees are felled for logging or growing palm oil plantations.

Scientists also say that while they are a protected species, around 1,000 orangutans are poached every year for the pet trade or to be eaten.

The British team will travel to Medan in the north of the Indonesian island next month to work with the Human Orangutan Conflict Response Unit, which was set up in 2010.

Rescuers can spend days tracking the apes from the ground and have to wait until vets can safely fire an anaesthetic dart at them.

They then catch the orangutans in giant nets as they fall from the trees.

Geoff Pugsley, 29 from Basingstoke in Hampshire, will be among the five-strong team from the UK to travel to Sumatra.

“We'll be teaching them techniques that we use to work on trees every day. They're tried and tested methods, but they're simple,” Mr Pugsley said.

"It will make it less traumatic and there will be less risk of injury."

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One million acres of rainforest to be restored

One million hectares of rainforest and other ecosystems in Sumatra and Kalimantan, are to be restored and supported by Asia Pulp and Paper Group (APP) the organisation has announced; an area equivalent to the total acreage of pulp plantations APP currently manages.

The decision comes a year after APP’s implemented its Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), which saw an immediate and permanent cessation of natural forest clearance across its supply chain.

The initiative will require collaboration with other land managers, communities, government agencies and including Greenpeace, NGO members of APP’s Solutions Working Group and WWF who greeted the news cautiously.

“WWF and other NGOs have identified the lack of attention to APP’s deforestation legacy as a major shortcoming in the original Forest Conservation Policy,” said Rod Taylor, Director of WWF’s Global Forest Programme. “We are encouraged by this announcement and look forward to working with APP and other stakeholders to figure out the details of where and how forests will be restored and conserved under this initiative.”

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Malaysian microjewels going extinct as they are discovered

A Malaysian-Dutch team of biologists have catalogued all 31 species of the tiny, but oh so pretty snail genus Plectostoma from West-Malaysia, Sumatra, and Thailand. Ten species are new to science, but some of those are going extinct as they are being discovered.

Credit: Thor-Seng Liew

The study was carried out by PhD student Thor-Seng Liew of Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden, The Netherlands, and three colleagues. Liew, who is on study leave from Universiti Malaysia Sabah, spent four years studying the distribution, shell shape, and genetics of these minuscule snails. He is still working on the species from Borneo, where Plectostoma is exceptionally diverse, but in the new paper, published in the open access journal ZooKeys, he first gets the species from the rest of Asia out of the way.

Read more at: 

UT Arlington Biology students to search for species in Sumatra – via Herp Digest

by Kathryn Cargo, The Shorthorn-UT Arlington Campus Newspaper, November 26, 2013

This winter, members of the biology department will explore montane forests in Indonesia for new species of reptiles and amphibians.

“Traveling there is an adventure and an enriching experience,” biology doctoral student Utpal Smart said. “We’ll get to see animals people have never seen and may never see again.”

Biology assistant professor Eric Smith, biology doctoral students Smart, Elijah Wostl, and Kyle O’Connell, researchers and students from Broward College will make their third trip to Sumatra, the Indonesian portion of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The biodiversity, or variation of species, of the area is poorly known. It is projected that the area may be some of the most abundant in species.

The team will search for and catch amphibians and reptiles in forests during the night because that is when they are most active, Wostl said. During the day, the team will take samples and begin preserving them to process for specimens. The specimens will be studied to prove new species exist and understand the biodiversity and genetics of the animal.

“It’s so diverse,” Wostl said. “Each species is relatively not very common. Any given night, even if we go to the exact same spot as before, we never know what we’re going to see.”

Both Wostl and Smart said they came to UTA for this project and are using it for their dissertations. The fieldwork and research they do for this project is what they want to do after they graduate.

“This fieldwork is an extension of our childhood,” Smart said. “I’ve been interested in nature and these animals since I was a kid. It’s constantly been in the back of my mind.”

Wostl specializes in very small bush frogs that are less than an inch long. Smart specializes in Asian coral snakes, which he said are rare to find. Their dissertations are focused on describing the possible new species and what geological and environmental processes contributed to one species evolving into another, Smart said.

About half of the specimens collected from this project are stored at UTA’s Amphibian and Reptile Diversity Research Center, one of the top herpetological collections in the U.S. Also, about half of the specimens from future trips will be sorted there. Smith said during the trip to Sumatra last summer about 45 possible new species were found.

This project might make UTA the home of the largest collection of amphibian and reptile specimens from Indonesia, Wostl said.

“I think what we’re doing lays the groundwork of cutting edge research,” he said. “If you don’t have a specimen, how will you do genetic work? Fieldwork is the foundation of biology.”

The team will be exploring northern Sumatra. The last time the area had a large-scale survey like this project was in the 1800s, Smart said.

Both Wostl and Smart said they could not emphasize enough how important this project’s fieldwork is because of the rate of deforestation in the area.

“We want to do it now while we can,” Wostl said. “Regions of Sumatra are losing 3 to 6 percent of forest a year. Many forests we visited before are being conformed to coffee plantations now.”

The project is funded by a three-year grant of $725,000 from the National Science Foundation. Smith is the principal investigator for the project, which is expected to end at the end of August in 2015.

Who Knew? Orangutans Plan Trips

The night before Sumatran male orangutans travel through the forest, they often emit long, loud calls in the direction they plan to go, new research shows. This call, the study suggests, provides a cue to other members of the community to plan for the trip ahead, and is the first field-observed case of primates planning for future events this far in advance. 

Animals' ability to plan remains poorly understood, and has only ever been observed in a limited number of great apes and jay species within experimental or captive environments. For example, in one experimental setup, chimpanzees and orangutans were found to be more likely to choose a certain tool that would grant them a reward an hour later, and a zoo chimpanzee was once observed to gather stockpiles of stones and pieces of concrete to throw at visitors later on in a given day.

Still, this behavior is not well-documented in the field. To provide a more concrete assessment of animal planning capabilities in natural environments, researchers from the University of Zurich followed 15 different adult Sumatran orangutan males in the wild for up to 10 days each, specifically taking note of how male calls throughout a day correlated with their travels later that day and the following day. 

Read further

Rangers destroy 40 active tiger snares in Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park

Tiger Protection and Conservation Units hailed for their heroic efforts in this year's Great Kerinci Snare Sweep.

August 2013. In any competition there are winners and losers. But for Tiger Protection & Conservation Unit rangers taking part in this year's Great Kerinci Snare Sweep, even victory was marred by concern as the results revealed a huge rise in threat to Sumatran tigers from purpose-built snares.

Runs during Ramadan

The Great Kerinci Snare Sweep is an annual competition that began in 2011 and offers bonuses to tiger protection rangers in the long-running Fauna & Flora International (FFI) and Kerinci Seblat National Park Sumatran tiger protection and conservation programme. The snare sweep starts just before (and runs for the duration of) the holy month of Ramadan and offers bonuses to the Tiger Protection and Conservation Units (TPCUs) that find and destroy the most active snares in the national park during forest patrols.

All snares rewarded

Although the emphasis is on finding and destroying active tiger snares, points are also awarded for destroying snares targeting deer and other smaller mammals, as well as removing snares and mist nets used for capturing wild birds.

Over the course of the five week snare sweep, the six TPCUs destroyed a truly shocking 40 active tiger snares (by comparison, in the whole of 2011 a total of 11 active snares were found on three of the 91 patrols conducted) along with 564 active deer snares and 79 bird snares.

Continued

Sumatra tiger surveys finds burgeoning tiger stronghold

More good news for tigers - Preliminary density estimates for tigers in southern Sumatra are highest recorded for the island

July 2013. Following on from the recent good news about tigers in Nepal, and (coincidentally?) just in time for the third annual International Tiger Day, recent findings from a camera trap survey in Sumatra, Indonesia, have uncovered a burgeoning tiger stronghold on an island that typically makes headlines for its rampant loss of forests and wildlife. 

Mr. Tomy Winata, an Indonesian businessman, conservationist and founder of Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation (TWNC, which is a 450km2 privately managed concession), has carried out critical tiger conservation initiatives in the region since 1996, and recently partnered with Panthera, a global big cat conservation organization, to implement this successful survey.

High density

The study's preliminary camera trap data recently indicated an unexpected density of six tigers per 100km2 in the southern region of TWNC. This estimate is nearly double the highest recorded for the island to date. These findings, including camera trap images of tiger cubs, have identified Tambling, which is part of the globally significant Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP), as a beacon of hope for the last remaining 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers.

Read on

Hope for Tigers Lives in Sumatra

July 29, 2013 — In time for the third annual International Tiger Day, recent findings from a camera trap survey in Sumatra, Indonesia have uncovered a burgeoning tiger stronghold on an island that typically makes headlines for its rampant loss of forests and wildlife.

Mr. Tomy Winata, an Indonesian businessman, conservationist and founder of Tambling Wildlife Nature Conservation (TWNC, which is a 450km2 privately managed concession), has carried out critical tiger conservation initiatives in the region since 1996, and recently partnered with Panthera, a global big cat conservation organization, to implement this successful survey.

The study's preliminary camera trap data recently indicated an unexpected density of six tigers per 100km2 in the southern region of TWNC. This estimate is nearly double the highest recorded for the island to date. These findings, including camera trap images of tiger cubs like that above, have identified Tambling, which is part of the globally significant Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park (BBSNP), as a beacon of hope for the last remaining 400-500 wild Sumatran tigers.

Panthera's CEO and tiger scientist, Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, stated, "The extraordinary tiger densities that have been discovered in Tambling are the tangible result of Mr. Tomy Winata's program not just to provide tigers sanctuary, but to protect them. Simply put, the main threat to tigers across their range is from poaching. Poaching is not a disease we can't see or a threat we can't identify. It can be beaten if the will is there to do so. Armed with a zero tolerance policy towards poaching, Mr. Tomy Winata and his team have successfully secured a significant area utilizing effective enforcement. This fact, coupled with good science and monitoring, has had the desired results; tigers are now breeding. Tambling is a model tiger conservation site that is giving the Sumatran subspecies a real chance not just to recover...but to thrive."

Continued

Plight of five hunters who have been stuck up a tree for four days with tigers prowling below: One man has already been eaten and rescue party will not arrive until mid-week

• Five men have been trapped up a tree by prowling Sumatran tiger
• Tigers killed a sixth member of the party and ate half of his remains 
• Group may remain there for another three days, it has been revealed The men were hunted down by tigers after they unwittingly killed a tiger cub.

Finding the cub dying from its injuries, the pack of tigers gave chase after the men and caught one, named only as David. He was quickly torn apart and half his body consumed.

The men, from Simpang Kiri village in Aceh, northern Sumatra, had gone into the dense forest in search of agar wood, which is very rare, expensive and used in the production of incense and aromatic oils.

Just 1lb of agar wood can fetch up to £175, resulting in villagers risking their lives to enter the jungles of the Gunung Leuser National Park where tigers and dangerous elephants roam.

'We can't go rushing in to rescue the men in the tree because of the remoteness and because of the tigers still being there at the base of the tree,' said Police Chief Dicky Sondani.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2357873/5-hunters-stuck-tree-4-days-tigers-prowling-One-man-eaten.html#ixzz2YRvUjPKy

Sumatran tigers very sensitive to human disturbance

Tigers live at surprisingly low densities in Sumatra

July 2013. Sumatran tigers, found exclusively on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, are on the brink of extinction. By optimistic estimates, perhaps 400 individuals survive. But the exact the number and locations of the island's dwindling tiger population has been up for debate.

Very low density of tigers

Virginia Tech and World Wildlife Fund researchers have found that tigers in central Sumatra live at very low densities, lower than previously believed. 

The study suggests that high levels of human activity limit the tiger population. Researchers studied areas and habitat types not previously surveyed, which could inform interventions needed to save the tiger.

Sensitive to human disturbance

"Tigers are not only threatened by habitat loss from deforestation and poaching; they are also very sensitive to human disturbance," said one of the researchers, called Sunarto, (a native of Indonesia, where people typically have one name). "They cannot survive in areas without adequate understory, but they are also threatened in seemingly suitable forests when there is too much human activity."

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$90 for a cup of coffee: world’s most expensive blend is defecated from an animal

Coffee snobs can now take it to a whole new level. The world’s most expensive cup of coffee is made from beans that are extracted from the excrement of a small animal.

The Kopi Kuwak is famously produced by the Paradoxurus, a relative of three different breeds of civet, a slinky mammal that looks like a cross between a cat and a mongoose. The coffee blends originates on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is produced when the Paradoxurus eats coffee cherries, digests them and then the beans are extracted, cleaned and roasted.

Amazingly, a cup of Kopi Kuwak typically costs about $90. Or, you can pick up a pound of the beans for around $1,000. Just getting a cup of the coffee typically requires an appointment.

Is it the unusual and labor-intensive process that drives up the price? Or, is there something truly, well, unique about its taste?

The coffee website Funnel Mill describes the Kopi Kuwak process as, “The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavor with hints of caramel and chocolate. Other terms used to describe it are earthy, aromatic, sweet and exotic. The body is almost syrupy and it is probably the smoothest coffee known to mankind.”

However, the website Touch of Modern is offering a limited run of Kopi Kuwak that is far less expensive. You can pick up a bag of Kopi Luwak Arabica for less than $30. Buying three 150 gram packages of the blend will set you back about $600 but that’s still quite a bit less than purchasing the bleind at its full price.

So, what do you think? Would you spend $600, or even $30, to try the world’s most rare and expensive coffee?

Story here

Baby orangutan rescued from a sack in Sumatra

17 orangutans rescued in the last year

April 2013. A young orangutan that was being kept in a sack has been rescued by the Orangutan Information Centre (OIC), a conservation group working in Sumatra. The orangutan, a male thought to be around two years old, was being kept illegally by an oil palm plantation worker.

The ‘owner' told the rescue team that he found the orangutan in farmlands next to the Gunung Leuser National Park a month ago. The young orangutan had been attacked by a dog, and he had captured the wounded animal and kept him in his kitchen. Sumatran orangutans are critically endangered and are a protected species under Indonesian law, so it is completely illegal to kill, capture, or harm an orangutan.

The OIC's veterinarian, Dr. Ricko Jaya, found eight bite wounds on the orangutan. He said "It is hard to believe that a dog constantly attacked the orangutan baby without any protection from his mother. I think that the mother must have been attacked by plantation workers, presumably using air rifle guns, a quite common practice to scare away animals by oil palm farmers in Sumatra. The orangutan baby must have become separated from his mother and fallen on the ground, at which point he would have been bitten by the dog."

Read on:  http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/orangutan-rescue.html

Killed-Off Corals Hold Clues to Earthquake Prediction

SAN FRANCISCO — Some of the biggest coral die-offs in recorded history happened in 2004 and 2005, after massive earthquakes in Sumatra, off the coast of Indonesia.

Now, researchers report similar evidence of ancient massive coral kills on Simeulue Island, caused by ancient earthquakes. An analysis of the fossil coral beds provides clues to the history of megaearthquakes in the region, and could help predict future quakes, researchers said Monday (Dec. 3) at the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union.

Simeulue Island lies off the west coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, where the 2004 earthquake stopped and the 2005 shaker began to rip the fault apart. Earthquakes of this size may break a fault for hundreds of miles, but they do have a starting and stopping point.

Read on:  http://www.livescience.com/25250-predicting-indonesia-earthquakes-coral.html

Imperiled Orangutans Need Key Forest Corridor

Sumatran orangutans are in trouble: Only about 6,600 of the animals are left, scattered throughout the northern tip of the Indonesian island where they once flourished.

A new genetic study of the animals has found that deforestation on Sumatra has isolated different groups of the primates, which could lead to inbreeding and further decline. But the research also identified a critical corridor of forested hills that orangutans still travel though, which, if protected, could help the species rebound, according to a release describing the study.

The investigators took DNA from wild orangutan's hair and fecal samples, as well as blood samples from orangutans from known areas that were kept as pets before being confiscated by authorities.

Continued:  http://www.livescience.com/24001-orangutan-decline-conservation.html