Name _____Balunso, Paul Zyron B.

__________ Date 4/27/2022

Course/Section/Schedule __ZGE 4301/DAAF/TTH 2:40pm-4:10pm Score _______

Activity _1_
Philippine Wildlife Species Profile

1. Common name ______Philippine Tarsier_____________________

2. Scientific name _______Carlito Syrichta ssp. syrichta___________

3. IUCN Red List conservation status _____Near Threatened________

4. Location ___These primates are found on the islands of Samar, Leyte,

Bohol, and Mindanao, as well as a handful of smaller islands like Dinagat and Basilan._____________

5. Describe the animal’s habitat

______Philippine tarsiers are found in areas of tall grasses, bushes, bamboo shoots, and small trees in
tropical rainforests. They enjoy the canopy of the jungle, leaping from limb to limb.____________

6. List the animal’s principal sources of food

______Tarsiers are the most insectivorous of the primates, eating exclusively arthropods, including
spiders, beetles, termites, cicadas, ants, moths, caterpillars, katydids, crickets, grasshoppers,
cockroaches and walkingsticks.____________________________________________________

7. List the animal’s principal enemies in the wild

______Potential predators of tarsiers include civets, arboreal snakes, monitor lizards, and raptors
including owls. Feral cats are also predators of tarsiers. ___________________________________

8. What elements in the animal’s habitat are most important for its survival?
Tarsiers are found in primary and secondary rainforests, though they prefer secondary growth
forests. This is likely due to the greater abundance of food items in secondary growth forests. _______

9. What factors are threatening or endangering its survival?

______Threats include habitat destruction and fragmentation, hunting, agricultural pollutants and
human disturbance. Tarsiers are very shy animals that prefer to stay away from human contact.__

10. What steps are being taken to protect and preserve the animal?
______To conserve and protect the rare endemic animal, local businessmen in Bohol established the
Philippine Tarsier Foundation Incorporated or PTFI in 1996. By bringing tourism to the province of
Bohol in an ecologically friendly manner, the non-profit foundation hopes to protect the Philippine
tarsier and prevent it from extinction. As part of the initiative, the foundation runs an 8.4-hectare
sanctuary, nestled within a larger protected forest where about a thousand Philippine tarsiers live,
protected by a permanent logging ban.

11. What are its chances of survival?

______Wild Tarsiers which are caught and kept in captivity only show around a 50% rate of survival
and in many cases they die quickly of overstress by committing “suicide”. Some conservation efforts
are under way for the various species, most notably the Philippine Tarsier._____________________

12. What other steps could be taken to preserve this species?

______People must stop going to places where they can photograph tarsiers because camera flashes
can stress these animals and cause them to commit suicide. The best thing to do is to donate on
organizations such as the Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Incorporated which can help in their goal of
preventing tarsier’s extinction. ________________________________________________________

13. Why it is important to preserve this species?

_____ Tarsier is important to evolutionary biologists and taxonomists as it is thought to be the most
primitive of the tarsiers; therefore it can be studied to better understand primate evolution.________