Readers’ wildlife photos

Reader Loretta Michaels sent two batches of photos she took recently in Borneo, and these are the penultimate batch we have. Today I’ll be showing her mammal photos, and in a while we’ll see her pictures of birds and reptiles.  Loretta’s ID’s and text are indented, and you can enlarge the pictures by clicking on them,

My husband and I just got back from Borneo, a remarkable place for wildlife viewing (once you get over your jetlag from the long journey there…).  Here’s a sampling of the mammal pics.  I’ll send the bird/reptile pics separately.

Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) – An orangutan species endemic to the island of Borneo and the main point of the trip. (There’s another sub-species of orangutan found in Sumatra.) It belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia and is the largest of the three Pongo species. The most arboreal of the great apes, orangutans spend most of their time in trees. They have proportionally long arms and short legs, and have reddish-brown hair covering their bodies. Adult males weigh about 75 kg (165 lb), while females weigh about 37 kg (82 lb). Dominant adult males develop distinctive cheek pads or flanges and make long calls that attract females and intimidate rivals; younger subordinate males do not and more resemble adult females:

Orangutans are the most solitary of the great apes: social bonds occur primarily between mothers and their dependent offspring, who spend up to 10 years with their mother, the longest time of all the apes. They can live over 30 years, both in the wild and in captivity.  These guys are considered the most intelligent of all the great apes, right after humans, and the stories about their many escapes from captivity are hilarious.  While we saw many orangutans in the wild, it was hard to get good pics as they were often half hidden in the foliage.  Some of these pics here were taken at the nearby orangutan sanctuary, which rehabilitates them and releases them.  Many of them come and go from the sanctuary grounds freely.  One mama that was released showed up outside our cabin, with her wild-born baby in tow.

Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fascicularis) – Also known as the Long Tailed Macaque. Sadly,  it’s the most traded primate species, the most culled primate species, the most persecuted primate species and also the most popular species used in scientific research:

Pig-tailed Macaque (Macaca nemestrina) – Another of the many monkeys found here.  These large groups often consist of both types of macaques:

Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus) – The smallest bear species in the world, native to the tropical forests of Borneo, usually found in trees. They’re known locally as “beruang bada,” or honey bear, due to their fondness for honey.  It gets its name from its characteristic orange to cream-coloured chest patch:

It’s very elusive and hard to photograph, so this pic was taken at the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Center, which is desperately trying to save the species.  Sadly it faces huge threats to its natural habitat, including mass deforestation, habitat destruction and illegal hunting and poaching across Borneo.  This particular female was stolen as a baby and kept in a cage as part of a roadside zoo.  By the time she was rescued she was so traumatized that she just paces in circles at this point.  (I’ve attached a pic of a display they’ve got at the center, showing the relative sizes of all the world’s bears. [JAC: see last picture below])

Maroon Leaf Monkeys (Presbytis rubicunda) – Also known as Maroon langurs or Red Leaf Monkeys:

Proboscis monkey or long-nosed monkey (Nasalis larvatus) – Distinctive arboreal monkey of riverside and mangrove forests. We saw lots of these guys, but mostly females.  The males, which are solitary and harder to spot, & have the much larger and more pronounced noses:

Prevost’s squirrel (Callosciurus prevostii) – Also known as the Asian tri-colored squirrel:

Added a pic of the dominant male at the orangutan sanctuary.  They say he’s a gentle giant, who unusually took under his wing a juvenile female when he first arrived, which they’d not seen before:

Loretta sent a bear size comparison picture. The sun bear is the smallest: