Bunaken National Marine Park
I traveled to Bunaken the day I arrived in Indonesia. I only saw a couple fruit bats that I could not ID and a Sulawesi Dwarf Cuscus in a cage. Every local I talked to insisted that the Cuscus did not occur on the island. There are a few marine mammals that are often sited offshore. Pantropical Spinner Dolphins, Bottle-nosed Dolphins, False Killer Whales, Melon-headed Whales, Common Dolphins, Pilot Whales, and Dugongs are all possible. Only the first two and possibly the Pilot Whales are common. Another island, Manado Tua seems to be the place for the Dwarf Cuscus. When foreign film crews want to film them, the locals take them there or acquire the Cuscuses there. I don’t think there is any accommodation on the island, but home stays can be arranged. A guide I talked to said to give yourself three days to have a good chance of seeing them.
My primary reason for visiting Sulawesi was to find Babirusa. Nantu is the best place to see them. It was time consuming to arrange, with a 2 hour interview for an entry permit and then another 1 ½ hours for a police permision to travel in the countryside permit. The latter I doubt is necessary and I think was just another way to get a little more money out of me. From Gorontalo it was a 3 ½ hour car ride, 2 km on a motorbike, a 3 hour boat ride, another 15 minutes on a motorbike, and then a half hour hike, and a short swim across a river. This should be eliminated by the end of 2009. They were paving a road to where we got out of the boat. If they build a bridge it will be just a car ride plus the walk and swim. It was mandatory to use a forest department guide, but that was ok as I wouldn’t have found the place without him. His name was Rhamat Biki and he spoke decent English. I speak no Indonesian. I stayed at the ranger station and ate with them. It was the most primitive place I’ve stayed, but was good enough for me. There were Heck’s Macaques around camp every day as well as Sulawesi Wild Pigs. In the evening I spot lighted 2 Timor Deer across the river. The next morning we went to the blind above the salt licks and waited. The first few smelled us before we saw them. Then we heard a lot of squealing, so we went and checked it out. We came upon a group of 6-8 Babirusa, 3 males, 3 females, and some young. One of the young was badly injured by a male and probably died, as it didn’t flee with the rest. It was still alive, but didn’t move even as we stood next to it. After that I saw several Babirusa every time I went to the blind. I had long, satisfactory views.
On the way to the blind I saw a few squirrels, probably Northern Dwarf Squirrel. There are apparently two common squirrels that Biki referred to as big squirrel and little squirrel. I ended up having about 35 Babirusa sightings in 2 ½ days. My guide said that was pretty unlucky, as it usually much better. Lowland Anoa, Bear Cuscus, and Spectral Tarsier are all possible here. I heard the Tarsiers one night.
There are several species of dolphins around, with Risso’s Dolphins, Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Melon-headed Whales, and Pantropical Spinner Dolphins regularly. A pod of Killer Whales passed thru within the last couple of years. All the guide books saw Dugongs are common here, but the locals tell a different story. Most fishermen have either seen 1 ever or none, at least the ones I talked to.
Kadidiri Island – I stayed here a night before heading to Melenge Island. I was showed a few places where Babirusa hang out and saw several tracks, but did not see any Babirusa. Apparently to see Babirusa there, they have to be harvesting coconuts, then they come in and eat them as they are drying. I did see a pod of Pantropical Spinner Dolphins while sitting on the porch of my room. I was told, dolphins are regular, but not seen everyday. Normally they are Spotted Dolphins of some sort.
￼￼Melenge Island – Melenge is the island to go to for mammals in the Togeans. I only searched for Babirusa and Togean Macaques once, but found both. My guide Eowon found me a female Babirusa at close range within 50 minutes. We then went into the coconut plantations to look for the macaques. There was a heavy downpour for an hour and then after another two hours we found three Togean Macaques. I had slightly obscured, but good long views of three of them. The small tail was clearly visible. That night Eowon took me to look for tarsiers. We were not successful, so I tried the next night with the same luck. I then moved to Lestari Bungalows on the other side of the island. I was provided an old Baju man, Amil, as a guide. He found them, but we were never able to get a light on them. There were at least 6 calling from all around us. We tried the next three nights, but never heard them again. We heard Babirusa at close range every night, but I never got a light on them. I was told Bear Cuscus were quite common until a fire a few years back and now they are very difficult to find. There is a bat cave that I visited twice. I have not figured out Ids on any of them yet, but I have pictures of I would guess 2-4 species of fruit bat and two smaller species. Bats are hunted in this cave and fly as soon as a light goes on them. There are tons of bats here still. I don’t think they shoot them, just club them.
This small park is only about 2 hours from Manado. The main attractions are the Black Crested Macaques and the Spectral Tarsiers. Both were pretty easy to see.
Bear Cuscus can be found with a bit of looking.
I also saw Northern Dwarf Squirrel and Lesser False Vampire Bats and a species of fruit bat in a hollow tree.
Having a guide here is mandatory. Don’t say you’re a birder as they charge more for that. A birder I talked to saw another species of squirrel, a large rat, and a Sulawesi Dwarf Cuscus. The Dwarf Cuscus was seen while looking for owls at night. Babirusa are extripated from the park. Lowland Anoa are thought to still occur, but the lead ranger said “You might find an anoa or you might find god, the odds are about the same.”
- Sulawesi Wild Pig
- Timor Deer
- Bear Cuscus
- Spectral Tarsier
- Heck’s Macaque
- Togean Macaque
- Black Crested Macaque
- Northern Dwarf Squirrel
- Lesser False Vampire Bat
- Pantropical Spinner Dolphin