Walking through the Borneo rainforest, you catch just glimpses of its wildlife. A hornbill soaring over a forest opening. A pair of otters darting along a riverbank. Perhaps just a rustling bush and patch of fur.
But many of the charismatic creatures here remain out of sight. It’s not the Serengeti, where large beasts parade in large herds in the open, easily filmed for nature documentaries. In Indonesian Borneo, the charismatic wildlife exists in low densities, but in high diversity.
I’ve just spent several days in this rainforest with staff from Arhaus, a furniture brand that is supporting Yayasan Konservasi Alam Nusantara (YKAN), The Nature Conservancy’s main partner in Indonesia, in helping conserve critical rainforest habitat in East Kalimantan.
A key component of rainforest conservation is monitoring if it’s working for wildlife. But how do you monitor elusive and cryptic wildlife you cannot readily observe? Fortunately, conservation research utilizes techniques like bioacoustics, which records sounds of the rainforest, and camera traps, that allow researchers to monitor wildlife.
During our trip, we visited the Wehea Protection Forest, consisting of 29,000 acres of protected by the Dayak Wehea Community with assistance by YKAN, a national foundation that took over TNC’s operations and conservation programs in Indonesia in 2020.
The forest at Wehea is awe-inspiring. So are the creatures roaming just out of sight. Here are some of the animals captured via camera trap at Wehea.
Orangutans are a major focus of YKAN’s conservation work in Borneo; Kalimantan is a stronghold for the species. But more than 78 percent of orangutans in Kalimantan are found outside protected areas.
While orangutans live mainly in the trees, they are capable of moving around on the ground, as camera trap images attest. In fact, researchers at Wehea have captured so many great orangutan images and video we included them in a separate blog.
A bear in the rainforest? The sun bear is the world’s smallest, and arguably least known, bear. They need intact forests and, in many places, are heavily poached. They are also notoriously difficult to see, but camera traps in Wehea have recorded numerous sun bears.
This bear’s tongue can extend 17 inches – the better to snarf up termites and honey in deep tree holes. Researchers have observed them cracking coconuts on rocks. Recent studies have found that the bears have surprisingly human traits, like the ability to mimic facial expressions. Read more about the fascinating habits of sun bears.
What’s the most difficult-to-see big cat? Mountain lion? Snow leopard? These might be considered easy compared to the clouded leopard, the largest cat species in Borneo.
Poaching has made the clouded leopard skittish and often found far from permanent human settlements. Even in the camera trap images, the clouded leopard often appears as more of a blur.
Interestingly, research has found that clouded leopards densities may be twice as high in logged areas versus primary forest. This is because logged forests attract prey species like sambar deer and bearded pig. Sustainable logging is an important component of forest conservation in Borneo, and utilizing science timber harvest can be done in a way that minimizes impacts on biodiversity.
Camera trap images of this primate, Miller’s grizzled langur, are particularly exciting. My Borneo field guides don’t even include them. Until 2012, the species was presumed extinct and was known only from museum specimens. Then a team of researchers found Miller’s langur in Wehea Forest.
In recent years, the Miller’s langur has been captured on camera trap images, proof that the species continues to survive in the Wehea Protection Forest. Wehea is home to at least 9 primates. Learn more about them in this blog [LINK].
Kalimantan’s forests are home to a wonderful diversity of birds, and to my mind, none more spectacular than the great argus. This is a large and elusive pheasant species, and like several other species featured here, more likely to be heard than seen.
A telltale sign of their presence is a cleared patch of forest. The male pheasant has a lek, or display area, to attract females. It keeps this area cleared of leaf litter and other debris. During the breeding season, well, you can see the show in this camera trap video.
The sambar is a large deer and has a wide range across Asia, where it’s found in habitats ranging from grassland to alpine woodland. It’s also a relatively common species of Borneo’s intact tropical forest, and show up frequently on camera traps.
The sambar has a spot on its neck that exudes a milky hormone. The sambar rubs this excretion on trees, especially during the breeding season. The animals can rub so hard the neck bleeds, and many call this the sambar’s “sore spot.”
The sambar is so adaptable that it has been introduced to the Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and the United States. While it can be overexploited in native habitat, its transplanted populations can become invasive.
This is a fascinating little deer; you are more likely to hear a muntjac’s shrill barks echoing in the forest than see one. They have tiny antlers and distinct large pits by their eyes, which are used for scent marking.
Perhaps the most interesting characteristic is that these deer appear to have fangs, actually large canines used by the males for fighting. They are naturally loose in the mouth, so they can make a rattling noise.
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