Bats from Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park. Photo J C-C Huang

Despite its great mammalian fauna, the bat diversity of Sumatra remains one of the least known of the large Indonesian islands. Between 2010-2012, a research team of faculty, staff, and students from Texas Tech University, Universiti Lampung, Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesian Program, and Museum Zoologicum Bogoriense, studied bat diversity in Bukit Barisan Selatan landscape, southwestern Sumatra. The result is profound. Sixty bat species, including seven new island records, were documented from the landscape. The exciting findings expand the island’s bat list from 80 to 87. At least another five species are potentially new to science. The results do not only indicate a new chiropteran hotspot in Southeast Asia but also highlight the need for more studies on bat diversity in Sumatra.

In additional, the first dichotomous key to Sumatran bats is provided with the article. The authors hope this key can facilitate bat research in the region.

Source: Joe Chun-Chia Huang, Elly Lestari Jazdzyk, Meyner Nusalawo, Ibnu Maryanto, Maharadatunkamsi, Sigit Wiantoro, and Tigga Kingston (2014). A recent bat survey reveals Bukit Barisan Selatan Landscape as a chiropteran diversity hotspot in Sumatra. Acta Chiropterologica, 16(2): 413–449.

Pteropus alecto in its natural habitat — photo Susan Tsang

North Sulawesi province, Indonesia, is a center for the bushmeat trade, especially of flying foxes of the species Pteropus alecto and Acerodon jubatus. This level of intense consumption is unsustainable in the long-term and will lead to increasing hunting pressure in other provinces, potentially leading to extirpation. A grassroots conservation initiative is direly needed, but there were no data about local cultures that could inform targeted conservation campaigns. In this study, we surveyed vendors and consumers at all eight major markets in North Sulawesi to determine local cultural factors that could be used in future awareness campaigns. We were also able to determine that sources of the flying foxes were colonies from other provinces, with South Sulawesi as the primary provider. With our findings, we highlight the need to engage churches and local students as local ambassadors, provide other sustainable options, and regulate interprovincial trade.

The paper can be found in Global Ecology and Conservation and is open-access here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000049

Sheherazade and S.M. Tsang (2015) Quantifying the bat bushmeat trade in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, with suggestions for conservation action. Global Ecology and Conservation. http://dx.doi: 10.1016/j.gecco.2015.01.003

Translation of the abstract in Bahasa Indonesian below (from Sheherazade):
Upaya konservasi kelelawar perlu dilakukan dengan terlebih dahulu memahami aspek sosial dan budaya konsumsi kelelawar di Sulawesi Utara. Dalam perancangan upaya konservasi, kami perlu mengetahui persepsi masyarakat lokal terhadap kelelawar melalui survei, yang dilakukan pada tahun 2013 di delapan pasar besar di Sulawesi Utara. Masyarakat mengonsumsi kelelawar setidaknya satu kali per bulan, dan akan meningkat pada hari besar agama Kristen. Diperkirakan sejumlah 500 ton kelelawar dikirim dari provinsi lainnya, dengan Sulawesi Selatan menjadi penyuplai utama sebanyak 38%. Belum ada langkah yang dilakukan untuk konservasi kelelawar, karena berlimpahnya kelelawar di pasar menutupi pengaruh perdagangan terhadap populasi kelelawar liar. Kami menyarankan: 1) melibatkan gereja sebagai penghantar untuk pendidikan lingkungan dan penetapan kuota konsumsi. Tingginya konsumsi kelelawar berkaitan erat dengan perayaan hari besar keagamaan Kristen, yang merupakan mayoritas di Sulawesi Utara. Keterlibatan gereja dalam mengatur daging satwa liar yang dapat dikonsumsi saat perayaan akan sangat membantu dalam upaya konservasi. 2) aturan hukum untuk perdagangan antar provinsi. Lembaga Ilmu Pengetahuan Alam (LIPI) Indonesia sebenarnya telah menetapkan kuota kelelawar yang dapat diperjualbelikan antar provinsi. Namun Balai Konservasi Sumber Daya Alam sebagai eksekutor di lapangan belum melaksanakan hal ini. Oleh karena itu, penegakan hukum mengenai aturan kuota ini harus segera dilaksanakan. 3) penggantian kelelawar dengan daging hasil domestikasi seperti anjing dan kucing; 4) melibatkan pemuda lokal terutama mahasiswa sebagai pelaksana kampanye agar lebih diterima oleh komunitas lokal. Kombinasi inisiatif konservasi berbasis lokal dengan penegakan hukum bertujuan untuk menciptakan perubahan di tingkatan lokal, yang telah terbukti berhasil di program konservasi lain. Tidak hanya pada konservasi kelelawar, upaya ini juga akan berdampak pada konservasi mamalia langka dan endemik lainnya yang masih diperjualbelikan.

Bea Maas, Yann Clough and Teja Tscharntke. 2013. Bats and birds increase crop yield in tropical agroforestry landscapes. Ecology Letters

Email Bea to obtain a copy of the pdf — beamass(at)gmx(dot)at

Bats of Agroforests Sumatra pdf (in Indonesian)

The article can be downloaded here.

Wiantoro, S., Maryanto, I. and Abdullah M. T. (2012). Phylogeny and phylogeography of Myotis muricola (Gray, 1946) (Chiroptera: Vespertilionidae) from the West and East of Wallace’s Line inferred from partial mtDNA cytochrome b gene. Pertanika J. Trop. Agric. Sci 35 (2): 271-292.

Source: Ibnu Maryanto, Mohamad Yani, Siti Nuramaliati Prijono and Sigit Wiantoro . 2012. A new species of fruit bat (Megachiroptera: Pteropodidae: Thoopterus) from Sulawesi and adjacent islands, Indonesia. RECORDS OF THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM, Vol. 27: 68-84.

Source: Jakarta Globe online (In English)

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/indonesias-batman-discovers-new-bat-species-around-sulawesi/529437

Source: KOMPAS online (In Bahasa Indonesian)

http://biologi.lipi.go.id/bio_indonesia/mTemplate.php?h=3&id_berita=421

The workshop began since the evening. Around 60 people from Sumber Rejor and Pemerihan villages attended the workshop, and most of them were coffee farmers. The event began by a simple opening by Mrs. Elly L. Rustiati of UNILA , Joe Chun-Chia Huang of Texas Tech University (TTU), and Myner Nusalawo (aka Opo) of Wildlife Conservation Society-Indonesia Program (WCS-IP). Then Joe gave a presentation on some general biology and ecological services of bats, and threatens that SE Asia bats are facing now. Two simple games on were carried out by Miss Eka Sulpin Ariyanti (UNILA), and a local school teacher (Mrs.Janji’s) to increase the participants’ impression of bats’ foraging ecology and pest control service . A demonstration of phytophagous bats from coffee plantation was also conducted to help the farmers to get more familiar with those flying mammals that associated with their life. The workshop was extremely successful! Many farmers interacted with the lecturers throughout the event and showed highly interests in bats. At the ending discussion, some farmers even provided further information on the bats in their plantations, and invited the team to give speech on bats in local schools, and requested to visit the WCS-IP research site within the rainforest!!! The influences of the workshop on famers’ perception to bats will be evaluated by a comparison of two interviews of the participants before and after the workshop.

BBSBRT is a very young academic group that composed of researchers and students from TTU, UNILA, and WCS-IP. The goal of the team is to improve the research and conservation of bats in BBS landscape, and to link to other conservation groups in SE Asia. The team is led by Joe, who is a member of SEABCRU student support team and a PhD student from Texas Tech University.The team is very appreciative of Rufford Small Grant Foundation, American Society of Mammalogists, and IDEA WILD in funding the workshop and associated field work. For more information and photos of the event, please follow up Joe’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.491456700869253.129879.100000147827938&type=1)

The workshop materials are now freely available for download. All materials were selected and modified from Malaysia Bat Party Pack, and translated into Indonesian by two SEABCRU members, Mr. Taufiq Purna Nugraha and Mr. Sephy Noerfahmy. Thanks for your kind helps

Source: Wijayanti Fahama, Dedy Duryadi Solihin, Hadi Sukadi Alikodra,and Ibnu Maryanto. 2012. The diet of insectivorous cave-dewelling bats from Gombong Karst Area, Central Java, Indonesia. Journal of Tropical Biology and Conservation, Vol. 9 (1): 49-18.

Monday, 28 November 2011

“Thousand of bats at Situ (Lake) Lengkong, Subdistrict Panjalu, Ciamis Regency, West Java, have suddenly disappeared. This phenomenon happened over almost 3 weeks and has astonished local residents and visitors from the outside area. The reason is because these bats are the symbol of Situ Lengkong pilgrimage tourism site, which has been occupied by bats for hundreds of years.
The bats inhabited a forest reserve in the center of an island at Situ Panjalu. Prabu Aria Kencana pilgrimage tourism area, or more likely well known as The Grave of Boros Ngora, is now free from this nocturnal animal.
The door keeper, Abdul Azis, said, the bats existence here had a big affect on the Situ Lengkong tourist area. This disappearing phenomenon is very surprising as this is the first time it’s happened.
The tourism management staff hope that the bats will return to Situ Panjalu. The cause of the fleeing of hundreds of thousands of bats is not known yet. However, Situ Panjalu residents hope that there are people who can study the forest reserve condition because forest fragmentation is suspected to be the cause of wildlife losses in this ecosystem”
*Situ : Lake in Sundanese

Note from Tigga: It would be great if someone can follow up on this story and let us know if the bats return, particularly if bats really are (were) attracting tourists.