Tangkoko, Sulawesi's Paradise of Biodiversity

[caption id="attachment_23931" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="tarsier (wikipedia)"][/caption] In 19th century, Alfred Russel Wallace in The Malay Archipelago revealed the rich biodiversity of Sulawesi island. He said that Sulawesi has unique animals different from either west or east part of Indonesia. Among a handful nature preserves, a treasure of Sulawesi's biodiversity can be found in Tangkoko. Connected good road network with Manado, it takes two hours to drive a Tangkoko nature preserve from. is already available so that visitors can access most places relatively easier from Manado. The nature preserve covers an area of 8.800 ha in the provinces of North Sulawesi. The complex mainly constitutes of two previously separated natural preserves of Tangkoko Batuangus and Dua Saudara. Mount Tangkoko which erupted the last time in 1880 has a summit reaching 1.149 m above sea level with a crater 2 sq km in width and 200 m in depth. Mount Dua Saudara, however, has the highest peak of 1.351 m above sea level. Both peaks of the Tangkoko and Dua Saudara are connected by a long, narrow ridge. The volcanic activity in the area contributes to the newly-created 450 m tall Mount Batuangus. [caption id="attachment_23932" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Macaques (amazingindonesia.net)"][/caption] Its major object of biodiversity is Tarsius Spectral (Tarsius tarsier) or simply called Tarsius. Locally called Tangkasi or Togu, this creature is renowned as the smallest primate in the world. An adult Tangkasi can only reach 10 cm tall. However, its eyes are so wide that it has the largest comparation value of eye ball to body size in animal world. In Sulawesi, Tarsius only lives in Tangkoko-Dua Saudara-Batu Angus. It is still unknown how this species can exist in most forest of Selayar island, the other Tarsius habitat, of South Sulawesi. Found still in abundant amount, however, scientific researches show that Tarsius Spectral is the less adaptive among all Tarsius species. Tarsius is a nocturnal primate that comes out for food and other activities only at night. Compared to other Tarsius species, Tangkoko's Tarsius Spectral is unique because its palms has no sticky surface. This monogamous primate eats small insects and reptiles. A male have a ritual of making a specific screaming to call its partner each time they are back to their nest on the trees at dawn. [caption id="attachment_23934" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Maleo bird (amazingindonesia.net)"][/caption] Apart from Tarsius, Tangkoko still have plenty of endemic species. One of them is Macaca Nigra, Sulawesi's black monkey. It has tuft of hair but hairless face, and brighter part on the back to the bottom. Yaki, the local name for this monkey, is tailless ape species. Among 140 species of bird, Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) is an endemic, the most famous bird species of Tangkoko-Dua Saudara-Batuangus Natural Preserve. This walking bird occupies the area for its volcanic activity preserving it perfect hatching place around hot sand surfaces. Other endemic species living in this natural preserve are Anoa (Bubalus depressicornis), Babirusa (Babirousa babyrussa), and Rangkong bird (Rhyticeros cassidix). Rare orchid species of this natural preserve are Vanda celebica and Phalaenopsis amabilis. To this, I could not agree more to Wallace's The Malay Archipelago. More than just a Tangkasi preserve, Tangkoko is the paradise of Sulawesi's endemic biodiversity. One question left, how long will Tangkoko survive from the threat of oldest human desire for gold abundant on this land?