Big-eyed little primates

This is the Philippines tarsier. It's a very small primate living on the islands of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. It can only be found in the Philippines. Tarsiers of two different subspecies can be encountered in Sulawesi and Sundaland. Tarsiers are only 9-16 cm long.

We met these little guys on Bohol, where you can find them in a tarsier sanctuary. Tarsiers are an endangered species. Mainly due to habitat loss in the wild, pet trade and predators like cats. In order to preserve the tarsier for future generations, the Philippine Tarsier Foundation runs a tarsier sanctuary near the town of Corella on Bohol. The tarsiers live in an enclosed space in the forest where they're safe. As they can jump up to 5 metres, they can leave the sanctuary to hunt.

When visiting Bohol, you often read about tarsiers being the world's smallest primates. I did some research and unfortunately, that's not true, even if it's a cute thought. The world's smallest primate is the pygmy mouse lemur, which is living in Madagascar (it's very cute, too).

Tarsiers feed on live insects, for example spiders, beetles, termites, cicadas, ants, moths, caterpillars, crickets, grasshoppers, cockroaches, walkingsticks and even praying mantis. The cute little primates can only get one baby per year and their babies are the biggest primates at birth when considering mother to baby ratio. We were really touched by seeing those cute big-eyed creatures up close and we hope they will survive and thrive thanks to the conversation work being done.Read more