Pig pipeline

- BEKI Updates -

Camera trapping on Bawean

Camera trapping is a fantastic method to study
wildlife, especially if it concerns shy and elusive
wildlife. Admittedly pigs are not necessarily shy
animals; when the BEKI team was on Bawean island in
May they observed a group of Bawean warty pigs on
an open grassland near the forest edge. The pigs
approached us curiously and grunted, until Mr. Nur
chased them away because he got concerned that the
pigs would come too near, Shafia said.
However, in order to get more information about the
pigs natural behaviour without our presence
influencing them, we do use camera trapping. The aims
of a camera trap study can be manifold. The most basic
information gathered is which species are present at a
site, and whether the focus species, such as our warty
pig, occur. For this aim, camera traps are usually
placed at location where animals likely pass, such as
wildlife crossings, water or mud holes, clearings, or
large fallen tree trunks. This was what we did at the
beginning of the project when we were not sure if
warty pigs still occur on the island and what other
species live here.

taking a photo of ourselves with a paper that gives the

following information: the date, the time, the GPS
location, and whether we install, pick up or check the
camera trap. Later, when we copy the videos to a
laptop and start organising the videos, we always
know exactly where this camera trap was installed
and for how long.

How much data have we collected so far?

BEKIs advisor, the chair of the IUCN Wild Pig
Specialist Group Erik Meijaard, published a paper in
2003 (Journal of Biogeography 30:12451257)
that gave an account of mammal species present on
Bawean island as reported in the literature. We try to
confirm these species. So far we have collected about
1070 days of camera trap data, and can confirm all
species except the Sunda pangolin: we have videos of
the Bawean warty pig (212 videos), the long-tailed
macaque (309 videos), the Bawean deer (6 videos),
the Sunda porcupine (1 video) and the small Indian
civet (1 video). We only counted independent videos,
e.g. those who were recorded at least one hour apart
from each other, as shorter intervals may imply that
the same animals are recorded twice.

Another aim could be the size of the population. This is

a bit trickier. For animals like tigers or leopards with
their individual fur patterns, the rate at which animals
are re-captured with camera traps can be used to
calculate population sizes. Camera traps are usually
placed in pairs facing each other, so each side of the
animals body can be photographed. For animals with
non-identifiable individuals this is not possible, but
other methods have been developed (see Pig Pipeline
Volume 2015/2 - Issue 1).
Finally, camera trap photos can give detailed
information about the general biology and ecology of
the animals, such as activity profile (what times of the
24-hour day the animals are active), group
composition, male-to-female ratio or birthing season.
At BEKI we use videos instead of photos, so we also
can see more details about the behaviour of the pigs.
In our project we follow all these aims because almost
nothing is known about Bawean (and also Javan)
warty pigs. Each time when we visit the island, we pick
up the camera traps from the forest and re-place them
in order to cover as much of the island as possible. As
we have more than 20 camera we must take care not
to confuse the data and data organisation plays an
important role. For instance each time we install, pick
up or control a camera trap, we camera-tag it by
Volume 2015/2 - Issue 3

Male Bawean warty pig in the early morning

Family of warty pigs searching for food

Then we discussed the plans for the next trip to

Bawean. First of all, of course, we will check all camera
traps in the forest and save the videos that they have
recorded in the last months. The cameras will then be
taken to other randomly selected places in the
protected area. Also, we will install a few camera traps
into agricultural areas to investigate the pigs
behaviour in this habitat. Finally, some camera traps
will be brought to some of the small islands
neighbouring Bawean island in order to explore the
mammal diversity there. Rumours suggest that
Bawean deers are able to swim to these islands.
Although this sounds unlikely, we are curious what
lives on the islands.
A long-tailed macaque feeding while a monitor lizard
passes in the background (white circle)

Next activities
In July the BEKI team met in Taman Safari, a Safari
Park near the city Bogor, in order to discuss the next
trip to Bawean planned for August. The team
comprised Johanna and Mark as the BEKI lead
researchers and founders, the biologist Putri Diana,
and the two biology students Sandy Leo and Silvi Dwi
Anasari. The Dutch biologist Inge Tielen and the media
and education officer of Cikananga Widlife Centre, Iing
Iryantoro, who will both join the next trip to Bawean,
could not join the meeting.

Typical challenge when installing camera traps on

Bawean: the steep hills in the protected forests
Next, we plan some direct behaviour observations of
warty pigs. During the last visit, the team was able to
relatively closely observe a group on a pasture land.
The pigs were not shy and even tried to approach the
observers. This time we want to try to do some
structured behaviour observations. The data collected
will then be compared to the behaviour of Javan warty
pigs studied in Cikananga Wildlife Center and reported
in the last newsletter (Pig Pipeline Volume 2015/2 Issue 2). When the pigs leave the meadow, we plan to
collect measurements of foot prints in order to find out
if the foot morphology differs from European wild pigs.
Care has to be taken not to confuse the print with foot
prints of the Bawean deer.

BEKI team meeting in Taman Safari. From left to right:

Mark Rademaker, Silvi Dwi Anasari, Shafia Zahra,
Putri Diana, Johanna Rode-Margono, Sandy Leo.
Missing: Inge Tielen, Iing Iryantoro

First we met with the keeper Stephan Bulk who used

to be responsible for the conservation breeding of
Javan warty pigs at Cikananga Wildlife Center. We
showed him our videos of Bawean warty pigs and he
immediately confirmed that the morphology of the two
different warty pig species is very distinct.

Volume 2015/2 - Issue 3

Drawing of a foot
print of a wild pig
(left) and of a deer
(right)

Furthermore, we want to conduct some pilot surveys

to get to know the general Bawean fauna better. A
species is always a part of a whole ecosystem, and by
investigating the faunal community which coexists
with the warty pigs, we may be able to understand it

better. We will start with surveying bats and

herpetofauna. Depending on the outcomes of the
surveys, the pilot surveys may lead to more intense
research projects.

organizations. Mark hopes to find out if any

conservation organisation that is or has been
operating anywhere on Java has captured a warty pig
on camera. The goal is to provide an updated
distribution map of the Javan warty pig distribution
based on camera trap data. So far, information has
been collected from 9 locations on Java, but no warty
pigs have been found yet, leaving us worried as already
more than a decade ago Semiadi and Meijaard have
stated that populations are declining. This makes it
even more important to continue the search.

Lesser false vampire bats (Megaderma spasma) in a

cave on Bawean island (photo: Simen Blokland)

Finally, because the Bawean warty pig as an

unprotected species relies on the goodwill of the local
people, we collaborate with the Indonesian teacher and
biologist Herdhanu Jayanto on Bawean to conduct
some conservation education activities. Currently the
attitudes of the local people towards the pigs is not
very good as the animals destroy the farmers crops. A
well-planned conservation programme may help to
improve their perceptions but also form the basis for a
discussion about crop-raiding solutions.

Distribution of warty pigs based mainly on interviews

as found by Semiadi and Meijaard in 2004

Impressions of Bawean island

Project Warty Watch - where

are the last Javan warty pigs?
The Bawean warty pig is closely related to the Javan
warty pig (Sus verrucosus) that occurs on mainland
island Java. The status and distribution of the Javan
warty pig population remains unclear. The last islandwide survey was conducted in 2004, mainly based on
interviews (Semiadi & Meijaard 2006, Oryx
40:50-56). In an effort to update their findings and
collect more information on the geographical
distribution BEKI member Mark Rademaker recently
started the Warty Watch initiative. Distribution data
are collected using the same tool that has proven so
successful on Bawean - camera trapping. As it will be
impossible to cover all natural areas of Java with
camera traps like BEKI did on Bawean island, Warty
Watch will bring together camera trap data from other
CONTACT

Thanks to our generous sponsors:

BEKI is part of the Javan Endemic Species

Programme (JESP).
Contact us:
jesp.info@gmail.com; johanna.margono@gmail.com
More infos on the web:
http://www.jesprogramme.weebly.com

Volume 2015/2 - Issue 3

Please support us by sending a donation via Paypal:

jesp.donate@gmail.com
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