15 Animals of Borneo – Characteristics

Review by : Yuli SE., MM

Like we all know here, the number of the exotic animals are always decreasing from years to years, especially Indonesia where you can find so many of them hiding in their own nest from the hungry predators like us, humans. They are being hunted and torn of by the greediness and the ego of humans, that will always hunt them for money, for profit. But luckily, the Government took a serious action to this problem, and have a very satisfying result.

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Knowing the programs of Government and several kind organizations, you may also want to know about what kind of endemic or the exotic animals that can be seen or found in Indonesia. Actually we have several great locations to be discussed, but first we have to tell you about this famous location in Indonesia, the Borneo. In this Borneo, you can actually find many varieties of animals that have very wonderful physical appearances and behaviors. All them summarized into the list of animals in Borneo. Check this out :

1. The Red Cat

In the first place we have the Red Cat which also called as the forest cat by people nearby. Here’s the thing, the Red cat has the same appearances as a cat and a tiger. They both combined into one animal called The Red Cat which has the cat body and also the tiger-like face, even though it’s smaller.

The sad thing is this animal is considered really endangered by IUCN. So many humans hunted them because of its skin, the skin is be incredible and also very beautiful. The Red Cat loves hanging round the tree branches and usually sleep on them.

2. Owa-owa

The next one is Owa-owa. This cute white monkey is really active on the day, seeking foods with its very long arms to reach the higher spots or locations. This monkey also has the eyebrows with white colours. The body look a little bit gray – ish with a combination of its dark-based skin.

On the day, this Owa-owa will swinging round the tress with ease, thanks to those long and useful arms. Picking banana wouldn’t be that hard with those hands. Because of its unique physical appearances, many hunters make this Owa-owa as a target. With that, Owa-owa enter the state of Endangered.

3. Mahakam Dolphin

Not like the usual dolphin, the Mahakam Dolphin actually looks more like a dugong than a dolphin. This dolphin has the way smaller size than the usual dolphins out there. With the small body, it can reach its foods and swim with a lot faster speed.

This thing lives around the Mahakam river and also in the lakes of Jempang and Semayang. Too bad, there are many fishermen “accidentally” hunt them. Not in the way they wanted, they accidently trap the poor thing into their catching nets. Then the Dolphin will day in several minutes because it’s out of water.

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4. The Flat Headed Frog

The Flat headed frog hold the 4th place for itself in the list of animals in Borneo. This is actually an aquatic frog that lives around the watery areas of Borneo, Mahakam river for example. It’s aquatic frog, that’s why this is the only frog that doesn’t have lungs as the respiratory system.

You know, it uses its dorsal skin to move faster in the water. With its dirt-like skins, you will hardly see it. But if you look more closely to river basin, you may notice some little movements that may came form this cute frog. Because of the high level of mine exploitations, the habitat of the flat headed frog is finally no more. The frog was finally have the status of Endangered by IUCN.

5. Bornean Crocodile

This bornean crocodile doesn’t have any differences between the Bornean and other types of crocodiles in Indonesia. One thing you can notice, the Bornean crocodile seems to have the shorter snout than the others. The shorter it gets, the stronger the bite.

With that specification, the crocodile may hunt its prey easily in the swamp. Yep, this crocodile is love hanging around in the swamp, and swimming to other land via the river. The crocodile is considered to have the least concern status, because it’s really dangerous animal, even for us.

6. Bornean Earless Monitor Lizard

The Bornean Earless Monitor Lizard is on the sixth in the list of animals of Borneo. Even though the name is earless, the lizard of course have the hearing system. Only it’s not easily visible, but it’s still working. You can examine them behind its scales.

Born with the orange-ish coloured scales, make it looks more exotic than the other lizard. You can find the lizard in the area of rocky streams, or the lowlands. By the IUCN, the animal’s considered as the vulnerable, which means having the high risk to be endangered.

7. Bornean Orangutans

We’ve already talked about the famous endangered Orangutans in previous article. There are two types of Orangutans based on their locations, Sumatran and Bornean. Both of them are really identical, except Bornean have a bigger size.

They inhabit the rain forest of Borneo, . Why?Because their number ain’t so many anymore in these days. The status of Orangutans was updated to critically endangered, have the high risk to be extinct. It’s sad actually, remembering they are also a great part of Indonesia.

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8. Bekantan / Proboscic Monkey

You know, Bekantan used as a mascot in the tourist attraction on Jakarta. And many people know Bekantan from that particular tourist attraction. Bekantan has the little nose with the thick neck around its head.

It lives in a herd and spends it times mostly up on the tree, just relaxing on there. They usually hunt for foods, also in herd. They always do most of their daily activities on pack. Sadly, the beautiful fur of Bekantan are always a good looking thing for hunters. Until now, the status of Bekantan is vulnerable.

9. The Red Monkey

In the 9th place, we have Red Monkey. You can find the Red Monkey or may called as the Red Leaf Monkey on the rain forest around Borneo. Their size is so small, you will hardly see them in the dark, or when the day turns into evening.

With a size smaller than usual monkey we’ve knew in the zoo or jungle, the red monkey can move way more faster then the monkeys. Up until now, the status of the Red Monkey turns into Endangered animal.

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10. White Fronted Surili

The physical appearances of this monkey will make us remember the character of Rafiki in Simba animation. Even though they’ve came from different species, but you may notice the same aspects that both of them have.

The white fronted surili has the white hair and also a white dot in it face, just like its name. Beside that, you can see some thick whiskers around its face. White fronted Surili likes to hang around the trees with its friends. The IUCN included this special type of Surili into Endangered animal until now.

11. Pygmy Elephant

Not like the usual elephants, the Pygmy Elephant of Borneo has way smaller size than those. You know, even though pygmy elephant has the same specifications as usual elephants, but its size is something to be notice. It can grow up to 1,5 – 2 meters only. It’s actually cute though, remembering that the elephant is the biggest mammal, but this came with a not so big size.

They like to travel in pack exploring the forest. The smaller size is so beneficial sometimes, they can move faster with that size. Talking about the status, a pygmy elephant is considered Vurnerable, you know what it means.

12. Flying Squirrel

Never seen flying squirrel before? This endemic creature of Borneo is a rare thing and can be approach only in the rain forest in Borneo. Usually, you can find the flying squirrel more easily in the night, because in that time they like to find foods by flying from side to side.

It’s not actually flying to be honest. You know, the “parachute or patagium is its helper to prevent the falling time. Just like parachute in general. Luckily, the number of this flying squirrel is still many out there, the last status of it is Least Concern, which is not needing any conservation approach.

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So what do you guys think about the animals of Borneo included on the list? Aren’t they beautiful? Of course they are. So in order to enjoy their beauty for years to come, we need to do something for them. We can do a campaign for example, in the name of protecting the rare animals, or we can do a fund raising to help the responsible conservations. With little things we done, we can help a hundred, a thousand, or maybe more for our next generations. So they can take a look at them directly, not by a high tech holographic monitor,