All about PHILIPPINE TARSIER
Tarsier, as we all know, is the smallest primate in the world with bulging and enormous eyes, which give them good night vision, and with head and neck, which can rotate 180 degrees! Imagine that! These primates can be found at Samar, Leyte and Mindanao as well but most of the tarsiers are found in Bohol.
The most popular place for tarsier watching is the mini sanctuary at the Municipality of Loboc. You can see them right before taking your Loboc river cruise. But if you want to know more information about them and see a larger scale of their habitat, best to visit is the Philippine Tarsier Research and Development Center at the Municipality of Corella. It serves as a visitor and information center which also coordinates the conduct research of these primates. It's best for educational trips too.
Let's do some trivia:
Trivia #1: Are tarsiers fragile?
Yes, they definitely are. No one is actually allowed to touch them and never take a picture with a flash since it can easily damage their eyes. That's how fragile they are.
Trivia #2: Do tarsiers have suicidal attempts when in captivity?
Yes, and I just learned it recently. Bet you didn't know it, did you? Shame on us! lol. Kidding aside =) It's actually one of the many reasons why they are not allowed as pets. Aside from being endangered species, If taken away from home, they have tendencies to commit suicide. They usually bang their heads until they die or usually drown themselves on a water.
Trivia #3: Are tarsiers monkeys?
It has been long debated whether tarsiers are monkeys. However according to research, no they are not although they look like one. If you actually take a closer look at them, they have a rat-like tails and owl-like eyes well. Most biologists classify them as lemurs or bushbabies but other classify them as prosimians, but definitely not monkeys.
Trivia #4: Where does their name came from?
Unknown to many, Tarsiers derived their name after their elongated tarsus bones, or what we call as ankle bones. A tarsier can jump 3 meters high vertically through their tarsus bones. This same bone helps them wrap their feet along the branches of the trees high up the rainforests. In addition, their exaggerated bones make their legs over twice as long as their bodies.
Trivia # 5: Did you know that tarsiers can't move their eyes?
Tarsiers eyes are actually immobile in their sockets. They can only see things in one view that is why they have to move their head and neck along.
Trivia #6: Are tarsiers nocturnals?
Yes, tarsiers are nocturnals--- meaning they hunt at night and sleep all day just like bats and owls. But if you go to the mini sanctuary at Loboc to watch these creatures, they are actually awake. So you can take a photo of them anytime.
But haven't you realize that the satisfaction we feel every time we could see and photograph them is equivalent to cutting their life span in half?
Come to think of it.
With their fragile life, they are supposed to rest during the day. I know this is one way to improve local tourism but I'm not sure how the Philippine Tarsier Foundation addresses this. In one way or another, we are sacrificing 2 or 3 of these creatures to cut their life span in half just for tourism purposes. Well, I'm guilty to this. And I know some of you feel the same way that I do. But I believe that although we can't stop them from allowing these creatures to be awake at day time, we can still help preserve these endangered species in our own little ways. By posting this blog, it's one of my simple ways of educating the people and sharing my knowledge about the tiniest primates found in my own province-- Bohol.
Well, that is it for now. More trivia questions will be added as soon as I could gather more info about the Philippine Tarsier.. I hope you learned something from my post. Let's help preserve these endangered species.
Ngayon ko palang nalaman 'to that they have suicidal attempts. Great trivia by the way. Thanks for sharing.
You're welcome. Hope you enjoy the rest of my posts.. Have you seen tarsiers yet? ganda noh? they're interesting.. hehehe