Taman Nasional Kutai

Fauna in Kutai National Park

The forests of Kutai NP is the home for many wild animals, starting from those crawling over the forest floor to the animals that are swinging through the branches high in the canopy. You will find different animals in the different forest types, starting from the mangroves, to the ironwood-meranti-kapur forests. The animals play a role in the ecosystem and animals and plants are often mutual dependent.

List of mammals

List of birds

Orangutan

Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is one of the primates of Kutai NP. Its Malay name means “man of the forest”. In some areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan it is also referred to as “mawas”.Orangutan eat fruits, leaves, bark, insects and honey. They are important for the dispersal of seeds. Human activities and forest fires have disturbed (and/or destroyed) orangutan habitat resulting in a decline of its population. According to IUCN orangutans are endangered, meaning threaten with extinction and will not survive without strict protection to save the remaining orangutan population. There are reasonable chances that you can an orangutan in Sangkima and especially in Prevab. In Kutai NP, based on the 2005 survey, the average density of orangutan ranges between 0.66 – 1.27 individuals per square kilometer.

Pigtail macaque (Macaca nemestrina)

This monkey, with a relative short tail (about 1/3 the body length) lives in groups and is active during daytime (diurnal). It has several local names, such as “beruk”, “bangkuy” and “kera ekor babi” (pigtail monkey). This monkey lives in groups of between 15 – 40 individuals. Their diet consists of fruit but also includes small vertebrates and invertebrates.

The pigtail macaque can be found throughout Kutai NP, including around Sangkima and Prevab. This monkey that can often descends from trees is officially protected by Indonesian law.

Proboscis monkey (Nasalis larvatus)

The proboscis monkey is a primate of the Cercopithecidae family. They can be easily recognized because of their protruding long nose, which caused them the local nickname “Dutch monkey”. This species is includes in CITES (Conventioin on International Trade in Endangered Species) appendix I (strictly protected). Proboscis monkey live in groups of 10 -15 individuals, lead by a dominant male that you can recognize because it has the biggest nose of all. The leader will give warning calls when danger is spotted and in a wink of the eye the whole group will leave the place and climb high up in the trees.

Proboscis monkey live in the mangrove forests and along rivers. They mainly eat leaves, especially young shoots of Rhizophora sp and Sonneratia sp. but occasionally eat beetles and caterpillars. In Kutai NP proboscis monkey are found at Teluk Kaba, along the Sangkima river and at Teluk Lombok. However because of the increased human activities in mangrove forests it is increasingly difficult to meet proboscis monkeys.

Sambar deer ((Cervus unicolor)

In Kalimantan this animal is better known as “payau”. Its distribution not only includes Kalimantan but also Sumatra and Sulawesi. Sambar deer prefers habitat close to water sources, like on riverbanks and in swamp forests. This animal with beautiful antlers can reach a height of 160 cm and weigh up to 300 kg. Because of its beautiful antlers, and its meat that is a source of protein for the local people sambar deer is often hunted, although this is against the law. Due to hunting the population of sambar deer has decreased. This is obvious when we compare the situation of 1985 when sambar deer could be encountered almost everywhere, to the situation now when it is very difficult to see them.

Mousedeer (Tragulus javanicus)

Mousedeer (Tragulus javanicus) is a member of the Tragulidae family. This small-sized deer living in the forests and along riverbanks eats fruits and leaves. This deer species has relatively big canines that it uses to ward of predators or rivals during the mating season.

This animal species that is protected according to a decree of the Minister of Forestry (no. 301/Kpts-II/1991) is difficult to spot (as it is a master in hiding). You will more often encounter signs of this animal, its footprints, than actually seeing it. One area where it is abundant is in Teluk Kaba.

Nannosciurus melanotis

Kutai NP is also home to many squirrel species, including Nannosciurus melanotis). This small mammal that lives in the trees is active during daytime. You can see it around Sangkima, it is often spotted in the trees close to the park office. Information on the condition, distribution and the ecology of this small squirrel (with a body length of only 6 – 7 cm) is still limited.

Birds

Kutai NP is home to many bird species, so far 330 species of 49 families have been recorded. This includes 35 species of birds that are on the CITES appendix. So far only limited surveys have been conducted about the birdlife of Kutai NP.

Some of the most interesting species of Kutai NP are the hornbill. Hornbills are large conspicuous birds because of their big size (approx. 100 cm long). Eight different species of hornbills are found in Kutai NP, all with their different shades and patterns of black and white feathers, with their different shapes of bills that are predominantly coloured in yellow, orange and/or red. Typically for hornbills are the casque found on top of their bill. Their preferred food are the fruits of Ficus spp.and they nest in holes in trees. If you are lucky you can see hornbills flying over head around Sangkima or Prevab. The sound of their wings is easily noticeable and warns you that they are on their way. Unfortunately these birds are also heavily affected by logging, as it results in less appropriate nesting trees.

Amphibians and Reptiles

Until now no comprehensive survey has been conducted of the amphibian and reptile species of Kutai NP. Information is confined to encounters during other activities. For example on one occasion the enigmatic kura2 kaki gajah . (Manouria emys) was recorded for the first time in 2007 around Sangkima. This tortoise species looks like the tortoise species so famous of the Galapagos islands. The diet of this freshwater tortoise consists of fruits and soft, slow moving animals. Beside this there is a range of frogs, toads, snakes (including pythons)that have been reported from Kutai NP.

Insects

Kutai NP is also rich in animals that are part of the phylum Arthropoda, or better known as insects, including members of the class Arachnida (spiders), Diploda (centipedes), Chilopoda, and Hexapoda (insects). This natural richness remains greatly undiscovered as no surveys have been conducted till today. However while walking around you will encounter a large variety of arthropods, like spiders, centipedes, and flying insects such as dragonflies, (order of Odonata), Orthoptera, Hemiptera, beetles (Coleoptera), butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera), (the unavoidable) mosquitoes (Diptera) and small wasps (Hymenoptera).