In a recent photogame, a friendly moose posted a photo of an ostrich with large eyes. This reminds me of the tarsiers I once saw in the Philippines. Rumored to be the inspiration for Yoda in Star Wars, these cute creatures are only the size of an adult palm, but they boast enormous eyes and a tail of about twice their body length.
Tarsiers live only on some islands of Southeast Asia, and human activities in their habitat such as deforestation and pesticide pollution have been threatening their continued existence. There are about 5,000 to 10,000 left in the wild of the Philippines, so they are a protected species there. The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary in Corella of Bohol is a reputable conservation organization, and we decided to pay it a visit when traveling around the island.
After motorcycling through the lovely country roads lined by palm trees and rice paddies, we arrived at the sanctuary. There were a few big signs leading to the ticket box and entrance.
In the small exhibition space, interesting facts are shown by some images and descriptions:
Afterwards, a local guide lead us to the woods behind. Here, people might get lucky to spot some Philippine Tarsiers in their natural habitat. The other 2 types are Eastern Tarsiers and Western Tarsiers that inhabit other islands of Southeast Asia. There were signs reminding visitors to keep quiet and not to touch the tarsiers, as they get traumatized by loud noise and touching.
Walking quietly and carefully through the dense forest, we sweated like pigs in the intense heat and humidity. Thanks to the experienced guide, 3 tarsiers were spotted within half an hour. It was fun to watch these little fellows with big bulging eyes, and they looked quite different when closing one eye or both at times.
They are not really a type of monkey as I first thought, but are intermediate in form between lemurs and monkeys. As nocturnal animals, their eyes are huge with large retinas to be able to spot preyers in low light. Because their eyes are very sensitive, we are not supposed to shoot photos of them with flash. I also turned off my shutter sound in case the noise would disturb them.
Although they may look adorable and innocent, they are actually carnivorous predators who don't eat any plants. From the pictures in the exhibition room above, you can see that they eat mainly insects and lizards, occasionally birds and bats too.
The guide told us wild tarsiers tend to commit suicide by banging their heads against the cage or wall if they are held in captivity. Poor little guys! So never try to keep a wild tarsier as a pet.
Also beautiful flowers in the woods, here's one:
野生眼镜猴分布在东南亚的一些岛屿，数量稀少。近年来的林木砍伐、农药使用等也一再威胁着它们的生存环境。在主要栖息地菲律宾只有大约5千到1万只眼镜猴，是受保护的濒危物种。我去参观了薄荷岛上的一处保护中心，有幸在茂密的林子里看到栖息在树上的眼镜猴。
亲眼看到才发现它们原来是这么小巧玲珑，只有手掌大小。但小小的身躯上，那双硕大突出的眼睛很引人注目，细细的尾巴也有身体的两倍长。因为是夜间活动的动物，在光线暗淡的条件下，需要大面积的眼球和视网膜来猎食。由于眼镜猴的双眼极度敏感，给它们拍照不要使用闪光灯，我在拍照时把快门音也关了，以免惊扰。
从我这些照片可以看到，它们时而呆萌时而乖戾，宛如天然表情包，据说启发了《星球大战》里Yoda的造型。虽然看着有趣，却是只可远观不可亵玩，向导说如果它们被喧闹声吵醒或被抚摸，会受到极大的刺激而一蹶不振 (虽然原本也不见得有多振奋;p)；如果被关起来，多数还会拼命用头撞笼子或墙壁来自杀...... 这，，，好脆弱又惨烈的小生灵啊~
但是，别被它弱小无辜的外表所蒙蔽，眼镜猴可不是吃素的哦！真的，人家只吃荤。想象一下，迷你的小身板静悄悄潜伏在月黑风高的夜里，伺机捕食昆虫、蜥蜴、青蛙、蝙蝠、鸟、蛇等猎物，细思恐极啊有木有......
跟着向导在闷热的密林里穿梭，汗流浃背的同时必须蹑手蹑脚，尽量不发出声响，也不能触碰树叶，更别提去摸小烈猴了。还算幸运，走了一圈，看到三只，都是掩映在葱郁的绿叶之间，静静地抱着树干发呆或打盹，其中一只离得太远，没有大长焦拍不到。想起以前看过的野生树袋熊，体形要大很多，而且干燥的桉树林比较稀疏，不用向导带路也能蛮容易看见树上的它们。而这次如果不是跟着经验丰富的向导，自己恐怕难以发现那几只眼镜猴，毕竟很小只，颜色也跟树枝接近，很容易错过从而抱憾终生^^。
图文 by Donica
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