After ticking the chocolate hills and a jungle river cruise off my list off must-dos for Bohol, I had just one thing left – to find Bohol’s most famous resident: the tarsier.
With just 1000 left in the wild, tarsiers are highly endangered and can only be found in the Philippines, Borneo and Indonesia.
Reminding me of an ET/Gremlin crossover, the tarsier is the world’s smallest primate. It has a rat-like tail, bat like ears, frog-like legs and each eyeball is as large as its entire brain!
Sadly, there are too many places in Bohol that keep tarsiers looked up in tiny cages, only getting them out for tourists to hold and have their photo taken.
The tarsiers are so distraught by being in captivity that they repeatedly bang their heads against a wall until they die.
I paid a visit to the Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary, where the tarsiers are kept in their natural habitat and visitors are not allowed to touch them, make loud noises or use flash photography.
We spent half an hour walking around the sanctuary with a guide, learning about the tarsiers and trying to spot them hiding in the trees.
The tarsier is probably the most bizarre creature I’ve ever seen. I wasn’t sure if I found them cute, freaky or evil looking but they were pity-inducing and it was truly heartbreaking to hear of their sad demise.
It is absolutely worth paying the tarsiers a visit at the sanctuary if you ever find yourself in Bohol.
The Philippine tarsier sanctuary is less than half an hour drive from Tagbilaran, is open 7am – 6pm and the entrance fee is 20PHP (40¢).
What is the cutest animal you’ve ever seen?
Gremlin is the first thing that came to mind! They are sooo tiny!
Even the adult ones can fit in the palm of your hand! :)
That’s so depressing (and also slightly disturbing) that they bang their heads against the wall until they die! :(
I can’t look at them without hearing a Gollum-like voice in my head, though. … Lol, they’re kinda creepy!
Tarsiers are nocturnal, right? It’s a shame the sanctuary isn’t open later – it would be interesting to see these guys in action!
Yeah they are. They were mostly asleep while we were there, but I’d love to see them at night – apparently they can jump up to five feet and catch birds mid-air to eat!
They’re very cute – but did you know that the Japanese word for these guys literally means “glasses monkey” and that its the word they use to tease kids at school who wear glasses?
OMG SO CUTEE! Like a cute version of that horcrux of Voldemort that lives inside harry – you know the one that’s under the train station bench…. anywaayyyy xxx
So, what do they taste of? If you say “the lion sleeps tonight” to them, do they go: a-wimoweh, a-wimoweh, a-wimoweh… ? If not, they’re rubbish.
;)
So what do they eat?
Totally agree with the Gremlin movie reference! Cute, in a weird way.
That’s one of the cutest/ugly (in a weird combination) animal! (don’t ask)
Loved Neil’s comment up there :D hilarious :D
Had a lot of love for the Tarsier ever since I first clapped eyes on him in secondary school.
This one looks kind of like Man Vs Clock no? All cute and furry like.
Wait. Hang on…
i find the tarsiers freaky, really, with that huge, bulging eyes. LOL. and yet, every time i go to bohol, i never fail to visit them and take new photos. haha!
I love tarsiers! They are so so cute!
They’re creepy little things! Cute, but creepy. I read about them on the Cracked.com site – apparently they can only move by jumping and can’t walk on the ground, so if they fall out of a tree, they’re stuck! However they can hunt as they can jump a long distance and pounce on small birds passing by.
Hurrah, an obscure animal I’ve actually heard of. Ok, so it was because an ex-girlfriend went out to look after them in Indonesia.. but.. I still get some kind of award, right?
Gremlin x Ewok? Sad to hear about their struggle for survival in this over populated planet.
Awwww they are so adorable! Poor things!
Oh my word. These animals look positively diabolical!
Now that you’ve told me about it, I’ve decided that the Tarsier is no longer the cutest animal I’ve never heard of.
I don’t know what has replaced it.
Yeah, I went there.
Wow, so adorable! Looks a little bit like a Bush Baby, but with a dash of Gremlin thrown in. Had no idea they were so endangered.
So cute!! Although I was terrified of gremlins as a child so a visit to the sanctuary might bring on some repressed issues! :)
I want one! It sort of looks like gollum from Lord of the Rings but less creepy.
OMG! They are so strange yet oddly cute looking. I want one too. :)
Adorable! I missed seeing these guys when we were in Borneo. I see they’re not afraid of human’s at all. Very sad that they are having trouble surviving.
That is literally the cutest thing I have ever seen! Definitely adding that to my itinerary when I go to to the Philippines!
Isn’t it?! They’re well worth seeing :-)