Tanjung Puting: Home of Primates
Friday, November 02, 2007
Between the green and the humid of Kalimantan jungle, Tanjung Puting National Park is the home of many tropical biosphere diversities. It was designed by Indonesian government as biosphere reserve in 1977 and declared as national park in 1982. Tanjung Puting is known to have a large diversity of forest ecosystems, including lowland forest, tropical heat forest which is called "kerangas", mangrove forest, peat swamp forest, freshwater swamp forest, and coastal forest, which is covering a total area of 415,040 hectares.
The area is dominated with lowland forest vegetations sucha as jelutung (Dyera costulata), ramin (Gonystylus bancanus), meranti (Shorea sp.), keruing (Dipterocarpus sp.), and rattan. Preserved faunas such as sun bear (Helarctos malayanus), sambar deer (Cervus unicolor), mouse deer (Tragulus javanicus klossii) and wild pig (Sus barbatus). Clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), and leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis borneoensis) are not hard to find as its become the haven of their life.
Over the years, Tanjung Puting has functioned as a rehabilitation centre for orangutans. There are three other rehabilitation centres for orangutan in this area, namely Tanjung Harapan, Pondok Tanggui, and Camp Leakey. Tanjung Puting is rich in wildlife and among these, the best known species that makes this area internationally very famous, is the orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus pygmaeus). This area is popular for biological/ecological scientific research, particularly for the study of primatology. Tanjung Puting Biosphere Reserve also plays an important role in eco-tourism and recreation of which a number of activities can be explored.
In Pondok Tanggui, orangutans are preserved on distances and less contact with humans. Camp Leakey was build on 1971, which is located on primary forest, is the homeland of newborn orangutans. Another site which nearly interesting is Natai Lengkuas. This station observes the proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus) other faunas through the river current. For those who like to watch birds, Sungai Buluh and Danau Burung are the best spot to discover.
Interested to discover?
Located on the south coast of the Borneo peninsula in the Indonesian province of Central Kalimantan and districts of Kotawaringin Barat and Seruyan, Tanjung Puting National Park can be reached by several transportations. From Jakarta – Pangkalan Bun [Central Kalimantan] with airplane, or Semarang [Central Java] – Pangkalan Bun with ship. From Pangkalan Bun you should head to Kumai which is 20 minutes of trip. You can choose an ordinary boat/”klothok” or speed boat to continue the journey to your destinations.
Kumai - Tanjung Harapan = 1,5 - 2 hours [ordinary boat/”klothok”]
Kumai - Natai Lengkuas = 4 - 5 hours [ordinary boat/”klothok”]
Kumai - Tanjung Harapan = 0,5 - 1 hours [speed boat]
Kumai - Camp Leakey = 1,5 - 2 hours [speed boat]
Kumai - Natai Lengkuas = 1,5 - 2 hours [speed boat]
Labels: Indonesia, Kalimantan [Borneo]
posted by Daniy @ 10:39 PM,
