First satellite tagging of proboscis monkey
Posted on July 25, 2011, Monday
ON THE RADAR SCREEN: A proboscis male with a satellite collar around its neck.
KINABATANGAN: The Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD) and Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) have fitted a satellite tag on a proboscis monkey in Kinabatangan.
“This is the first time in Borneo that a proboscis monkey is tagged with a satellite device,” explained Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department.
“It is the start of a long-term research and conservation programme initiated by our department and the Danau Girang Field Centre and funded by Sime Darby Foundation,” he said.
“The animal, a 24-kg male, was caught by members of the Wildlife Rescue Unit and DGFC during the course of our Proboscis Monkey Programme initiated last week, which is a collaboration between SWD, DGFC and Cardiff University,” said Dr Senthilvel Nathan, SWD chief wildlife veterinarian currently doing his PhD with Cardiff University.
“We will catch proboscis monkeys in the whole state to collect blood for genetic analyses and parasite identification, saliva for viruses and bacteria, ectoparasites and morphometric data. We will also fit 10 individuals with satellite tags in the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary,” Nathan said.
Dr Benoit Goossens, director of DGFC and leader of the programme, said the aim of the satellite tagging is to fully understand the ranging patterns of proboscis monkeys and the stressors impacting their movements and density in order to determine the adequate amount of habitat available towards sustaining a continuous viable population in the Kinabatangan region.
“One of the objectives is to identify the effectiveness of conservation corridors versus simple river buffer and to produce a model that can be used in conjunction with other projects to report on the effective conservation development of the Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary,” Goossens said.
According to Ambu, this programme is extremely important for the conservation of the proboscis monkey in Sabah, an endemic and endangered species in Borneo.
“One of the outputs will be the presentation of our results at an international workshop on the conservation of proboscis monkeys in Borneo that will be organised in Kota Kinabalu at the end of the programme.
“We fully appreciate the support of Sime Darby Foundation for this programme, as well as the Malaysian Palm Oil Council and Shangri La’s Rasa Ria Resort which support our Wildlife Rescue Unit involved in the fieldwork,” he said.
The SWD and DGFC have also fitted a satellite tag on Bornean slow loris, a saltwater crocodile, a Pygmy elephant and a Sumatra rhino, among others.
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