Tarsiers find new 'home' in conservation area in Loboc, Bohol, Philippines

Here are some interesting facts about the Philippine tarsier, the smallest primate in the world:

• They are nocturnal creatures.
  
• The Philippine tarsier is found in southern Philippine islands of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.
• It is variously known to the natives as "mamag," "mago," "magau," "maomag," "malmag," and "magatilok-iok."
  
• Tarsiers belong to the primate suborder haplorrhini or “dry-nosed” primates.
• The name “tarsier” originated because of the unusually long tarsus bones in the primates’ feet.
• Tarsiers have enormous eyes, in fact, each eyeball is bigger than the animal’s brain!
• They are one of the smallest known primates, generally no bigger than a man’s hand (about 10-15cm in height and between 115 and 130g in weight).
• They are the only completely carnivorous primates on earth, feeding predominantly on insects (including beetles, grasshoppers, cockroaches, butterflies, moths, praying mantis, ants, phasmids, and cicadas) but also catching snakes, lizards, bats and other small vertebrates.
• A tarsier’s hind legs are twice as long as it’s body and enable it to jump fast and far (up to an incredible 3 metres) so it can catch its prey. Tarsiers have even been known to catch birds in flight.
• As well as long legs, tarsiers have long fingers. The second and third digits of the hind feet bear claws rather than nails, which the animal uses to groom its soft brown fur.
• The family Tarsiidae is a staggering 45 million years old, and boasts the longest unbroken fossil record of any primate genus.
• They are suicidal. Yeah, when stressed.
  

Here is my script submitted in a network:

Mga tarsier ng Loboc inilipat na sa isang conservation area

Pagkatapos ng maraming debate at alitan ng local na pamahalaan at ng mga pribadong tao na may tarsier viewing facilities, ibinalik na sa kanilang natural habitat ang mga cute na tarsier sa Loboc sa lalawigan ng Bohol noong July 22, Bohol Day.

Sa conservation area na ito na may lawak na 2 hektarya na bahagi ng kagubatan ng Loboc ay malayang makakilos ang mga tarsier kaysa noong nasa maliit na cage pa sila.

Mahigit 60 na mga tarsier ang inilipat at ang mga natitirang iba pa o mahigit 113 ay ilalagay sa darating na mga araw.

Enjoy na enjoy naman ang mga turista na pumupunta sa bagong area para magpapicture taking.

Nasaksihan ni DENR Undersecretary Michelle Angelica Go ang launching ng Tarsier Conservation Area at ang maliit na tarsier na ito ay kanyang ibinalik sa natural habit habang binigyan niya ito ng pangalang "Harry Potter."

Ang tarsier ay itinuturing na pinakamaliit na primate sa buong mundo.

Noong 2009, ipinagbawal ng Provincial Ordinance No. 2009-005 “alagaan, idisplay at pagkakitaan.” May naulat na rin na mga tarsier na sobrang nastressed at nagsuicide.


NOTES: Provincial Ordinance No. 2009-005, “prohibiting the possession, display for viewing for commercial or business use, or any other purpose not included in the ordinance, of the Philippine Tarsier outside of its natural habitat and from Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary and imposing penalties thereof.”

The population of the extinct Philippine Tarsier (Tarsius syrichta) will continue to shrink as the provincial government, despite an enacted ordinance, remains helpless against a national government bureau who continues to issue permits for the tarsiers’ public viewing.

“Tarsiers are supposedly to rest during daytime because they are naturally nocturnal in their habitat. But what is happening now is that these primates are forced to move during the day while captivity to please tourists. The pets must stay awake while hundreds of visitors come to see and “touch” them. This on top of the artificial habitat which cannot provide their “ecological needs”, a condition that indeed make the tarsier stressed and threatened.

Here is Chito Visarra's report printed in the Bohol Chronicle:

After decades of living in captivity in cramp quarters crudely resembling their natural habitat – the tarsiers are back to the wild. Some 60 cuddly tarsiers that have captured the hearts of millions of visitors will now call home an initial six-hectare wooded lot now called the Tarsier Conservation Area located in Barangay Upper Bonbon, Loboc town. A stone's throw away from the man-made forest in Loboc, the new home of the Bohol Tarsiers (Tarsius syrichta fraterculus) was the choice of the DENR and the 16 tarsier permittees due to the abundance of second growth, primary and secondary forest and dense low level vegetation – the close to ideal habitat requirement of the tarsiers. But it was a rude awakening for the 16 cm. "maumag" as they are locally known, as their arrival was greeted with rain and a rousing welcome from the local community.

In a symbolic emotional ceremony releasing the tarsier to their new quarters, DENR officials led by Assistant Secretary Michelle Angelica Go gently freed from the palm of her hand a shivering and wet tarsius, she offhandedly named "Harry" into its forested home.

The tarsiers allowed to be displayed for public viewing by the DENR were mostly housed along the highways of Loboc together with several known tarsier viewing kiosks spread in the neighboring towns of Corella, Loay, Dauis, Panglao and Sagbayan.

German Palapar, president of the newly formed Bohol Tarsier Permittees Association told the Chronicle that the group has pooled resources to the tune of P1.5 million to transform the area into a world class tourist destination without sacrificing the tarsiers native habitat.

An initial three-hectare area is now ready for tarsier viewing with pebbled pathways for visitors laid out around the wooded sanctuary while a thatched-roofed waiting area showcasing tarsier souvenirs has been constructed to accommodate the expected influx of visitors.

A 60-vehicle parking area with modern and clean rest rooms are all part of the 25-hectare Tarsier Conservation Area.

Umbrellas are also available for the visitors during inclement weather while trained guides will usher tourists around the hilly terrain.

TRANSITION PERIOD

But Palapar cautioned the public that since most of these tarsiers have been domesticated and coddled, the transition from a pampered existence to a life free from human interventions could be stressful to the newly freed tarsiers, as well.

Palapar observed that the tarsiers, with a reported home range of one to two hectares were found to be confused with their new habitat perhaps awed by the ample space of their new environment.

The shift from a pampered life to the harsh realities of the wild, the tarsier permittees will gradually wean them from the comfortable and easy manner of feeding to the natural way of honing their hunting instincts, seizing their prey and bringing with their hands the food into the mouth.

Drenched by a heavy downpour the past few days, the tarsiers are still being fed with their regular diet of cultivated brown wriggling worms reportedly bought for sixty centavos per worm from specialty shops in Cebu.

With a reportedly daily food consumption of twelve grams, a tarsiers diet consists of spiders, small crustaceans and lizards, birds, crickets and grasshoppers, tarsier operators has resorted to feeding them "superworms" due to the dwindling availability of these insects.

Palapar also said that the transfer of pregnant tarsiers is now carefully scheduled to avoid unnecessary danger to the mother and offspring.

Palapar assured the public that measures are in place to prepare the tarsiers of the least stressful conditions during the transition period. FIRST CONCERN The first concern on the preservation of tarsiers started way back in 1997 with the creation of the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Inc. (PTFI). The coordinated efforts of hotelier Anos Fonacier, banker Richard Uy, businessman Marlito Uy and Fr. Florante Camacho came as there was the absence of any serious efforts from the government on how to preserve this endangered species. The foundation which opened its 12-hectare conservation area was visited by several TV and print media documentation on the life and preservation of tarsiers. The famous forester Lito Pizarras is working with the group as the "caretaker" of the tarsiers where breeding is done within their netted area in the forested barangay in Corella town. Asked to comment on the opening of the Loboc site, Fr. Camacho, PTFI chairman told the Chronicle that he does not believe on the claim these Loboc-based operators have their tarsiers multiply in captivity. "What the PTFI is strongly objecting is the set-up where the tarsiers are caged and are allowed to be touched by tourists," Fr. Camacho stressed. Prior to the opening of the new site in Loboc, the tarsiers display, mostly at the Loboc riverbanks became the object of global criticism as they found how the tarsiers were being abused by the tarsier display owners who placed the tarsiers inside cages like birds. ROYALTY

The tarsier had a brush with royalty when Prince Charles of England, a known conservationist visited Manila on July 3, 1997 was allowed to be presented with a pair of tarsiers airlifted from Bohol.

The pair was immediately flown back to Bohol after the presentation in Malacanang in the presence of President Ramos and First Lady Amelita Ramos.

Classified by the DENR as an endangered species, the tarsier, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the mammal with the largest eyes, the sale and trade of the species is banned.

The PTFI together with the DENR is in the forefront of the campaign for the preservation of the tarsier.

A seven-hectare area in Corella, Bohol is home to the Tarsier Research and Development Center serving as venue for research and sanctuary of the tarsiers.

Listed members of the Bohol Tarsier Permittees Association are Vernie Eleazar, Nerio Salaga, German Palapar, Ma. Paz Trotin, Benito Jala, Mario Morala, Neria Saranillo, Buboy Labunog, Joven Ancla, Rosemarie Palapar, Ano Ponio and Alfredo Hilot.

Poked with sticks, blinded by flash cameras, enduring day long petting and forced fed by heartless tourists, can they now live in relative peace? With life beyond those small cramped cages a distant memory, can the tarsius syrichta fraterculus, the Boholano tarsier find happiness in the wilds of Upper Bonbon, Loboc?