Palm Oil Detectives

2024-03-09 14:37:00

Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

Jerdon’s Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus

Critically Endangered

Extant

Eastern Ghats (Andhra Pradesh), India.

---

The Jerdon’s Courser is a rare and captivating nocturnal #songbird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae. These #birds are endemic to #India in the Eastern Ghats region of Andhra Pradesh. Currently they are only known to live in the Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary, where they reside in sparse scrub forest with patches of bare ground and are threatened by #palmoil #deforestation, help them to survive and #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

---

One of the world’s rarest #songbirds has the sweetest song 🎶🎵🪇 the Jerdon’s Courser 🪿 is critically endangered in #India 🇮🇳 due to #palmoil #deforestation. Help them when you shop! #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🪔🤮🔥⛔️ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/03/…

Share to Twitter
Share to BlueSky

Jerdon’s Coursers are #birds with a sweet melodic song🕊️ 🎶🥁 and are fighting for survival, critically endangered from #palmoil #deforestation in #India 🇮🇳 Help them when you #BoycottPalmOil 🌴🧐🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife in the supermarket @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/03/…

Share to Twitter
Share to BlueSky

youtu.be/ZNIUITfUHlc

Appearance & Behaviour

They are most active at dusk and during the night when they call out, filling the air with a melodious series of staccato notes: Twick-too…Twick-too…Twick-too or yak-wak.. yak-wak. These captivating sounds, repeated at a rapid pace of about one per second, may be uttered 2 to 16 times, attracting the participation of fellow birds in the vicinity.

The Jerdon’s Courser sports two striking brown breast-bands, they possess an unmistakable compact form. Their bill boasts a captivating blend of yellow and black, while their crown is adorned with a dark hue. A broad buff supercilium and an enchanting orange-chestnut throat patch add to their allure. A slender white stripe gracefully adorns the top of their head. During flight, their predominantly black tail and prominent white wing bar make a stunning display. Currently, they thrive solely within the enchanting Sri Lankamalleswara Wildlife Sanctuary, finding their home in sparse scrub forests adorned with patches of bare ground.

Threats

The Jerdon’s Courser’s habitat is becoming scarcer and more fragmented. They are threatened by human disturbance in the Eastern Ghats region of India including:

• Palm oil deforestation
• Timber deforestation
• Mining deforestation
• Hunting: the risk of accidental and opportunistic trapping of the animal.
• Infrastructure: The construction of the Telugu-Ganga Canal initially threatened suitable habitat outside Sri Lankamaleswara Wildlife Sanctuary. However, the construction was halted, and a new route was approved to avoid the remaining suitable habitat.

Despite these efforts, their remaining habitat is still under threat because of expected increased palm oil agriculture around the reserve resulting from the canal construction. Along with an increase in palm oil deforestation in this area.

Palm oil plantations at the foothills of Eastern Ghats near Srungavarapukota

Palm oil plantations at the foothills of Eastern Ghats near Srungavarapukota in Vizianagaram district by Adityamadhav83 on Wikipedia

Until their rediscovery in 1986, this #bird was believed to be #extinct and was only known from a few historical records. The credit for rediscovering them goes to Bharat Bhushan, an ornithologist from the Bombay Natural History Society, who collaborated with local trappers to capture a specimen. Prior to their rediscovery, they were thought to be a diurnal bird. They remain critically endangered due to loss of habitat. They have nocturnal habits and are presumed to be insectivorous. Being a rare bird, nothing is known yet about their behavior and nesting habits.

Habitat

Studies in this region using sand strips to detect footprints suggest that these birds prefer habitats with tall bushes, ranging from 300 to 700 per hectare in density.

These birds are extremely rare and are endemic to southern India, primarily found in southern Andhra Pradesh. Their geographical range is extremely limited, known from the Godaveri river valley near Sironcha and Bhadrachalam, as well as the Cuddapah and Anantpur areas in the Pennar River valley.

An egg, likely collected within a 100 km radius of Kolar in 1917, was positively identified as belonging to this species through DNA analysis. Initially recorded in the mid-19th century, they were considered extinct for over 80 years until their rediscovery in 1986 in Cuddapah District, Andhra Pradesh.

Diet

The diet of Jerdon’s courser primarily consists of insects. As an insectivorous species, they feed on a variety of small insects such as beetles, grasshoppers, crickets, ants, and termites. Being a nocturnal bird, they are adapted to hunt for their prey during the dark hours of the night. However, due to limited information about their behaviour and feeding habits, further research may be required to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of their diet.

Mating and breeding

Jerdon’s courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus) is a species with limited information available about its mating habits and reproduction. However, based on general knowledge about bird reproduction, we can make some assumptions.

Jerdon’s courser is believed to form monogamous breeding pairs, where a male and a female come together to reproduce. Courtship behaviors such as displays of plumage, vocalisations, and courtship flights may be involved in the mating process. These behaviors help to attract a mate and establish pair bonds.

Once a pair is formed, they will likely engage in nest building. The nest is usually a scrape on the ground, often located in sparse scrub forest areas with patches of bare ground. The female is typically responsible for incubating the eggs while the male may assist in providing food for the female during this period.

The clutch size, or the number of eggs laid in a nest, is not well-documented for Jerdon’s courser. However, related species within the same family generally lay one to two eggs per clutch. The incubation period is also not well-known, but it is expected to be similar to other ground-nesting birds, which ranges from a few weeks to a month.

Once the eggs hatch, both parents are likely to participate in feeding and caring for the chicks. They will bring food, usually insects, to the nest to nourish the growing chicks. The duration of parental care and the fledging period, when the chicks are capable of leaving the nest, are not specifically known for Jerdon’s courser.

It’s important to note that more research and observations are needed to gather detailed information about the mating habits and reproductive biology of Jerdon’s courser.

Support the Jerdon’s Courser by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

BirdLife International. 2017. Rhinoptilus bitorquatus (amended version of 2016 assessment). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2017: e.T22694103A117189206. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.201…. Accessed on 02 June 2023.

Jerdon’s courser Wikipedia article – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerdon’s_courser

Xeno-canto bird call – xeno-canto.org/294415

---

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

---

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,179 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

#animals #Bird #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottPalmOil #CentralAsia #CriticallyEndangeredSpecies #deforestation #extinct #ForgottenAnimals #hunting #India #JerdonSCourserRhinoptilusBitorquatus #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #poaching #songbird #songbirds

Jerdon's Courser Rhinoptilus bitorquatus - India - Asia

The Jerdon's Courser is a rare and captivating nocturnal bird belonging to the pratincole and courser family Glareolidae. They are endemic to India in the Ea...

^{Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)}

Palm Oil Detectives

2024-07-13 16:54:00

Bird species are facing extinction hundreds of times faster than previously thought

Extinction, or the disappearance of an entire species, is commonplace. Yet evidence suggests that the number of bird species going extinct, and the rate at which they are disappearing, is increasing dramatically. Conserving species at the 11th hour is difficult and expensive, the key is definitely prevention. To go hard and go early and stop species disappearing. Help rainforest animals on the verge of extinction from deforestation by changing your shopping habits. #Boycottmeat #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife

#Birds like Spix #Macaw🦜 are now #extinct in the wild 😨😢 due to #palmoil #meat and #soy deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon 🇧🇷. Fight back against #extinction with ur wallet 🙋‍♂️🙌 💚🌿#Boycottmeat #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/07/…

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

The rate at which #birds 🦜🦃 are going #extinct has increased dramatically and is happening much faster than we previously thought. Help birds of the #Amazon survive when you #Boycottmeat 🥩🚫 #Boycottpalmoil 🪔🚫 #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2024/07/…

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

youtu.be/OEeBDKVzrTo

Written by Arne Mooers, Professor, Biodiversity, Phylogeny & Evolution, Simon Fraser University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Arne Mooers, Simon Fraser University

Extinction, or the disappearance of an entire species, is commonplace. Species have been forming, persisting and then shuffling off their mortal coil since life began on Earth. However, evidence suggests the number of species going extinct, and the rate at which they disappear, is increasing dramatically.

Our recent work suggests that the rate at which species are going extinct may be many times higher than previously estimated — at least for birds. The good news, however, is that recent conservation efforts have slowed this rate a lot.

Old rates

For decades, palaeontologists have used fossils to estimate how long different species persisted before dying out. The discovery of a new fossil species gives a minimum estimate of when the species might have first evolved. The absence of the same species later in the fossil record signifies its probable extinction.

Though the methods are woefully imprecise, researchers have estimated that the average lifetime of a vertebrate species is between one and three million years. Many species are at the lower end of this range, while a few species persist many millions of years longer. For comparison, our own species, Homo sapiens, has been around for less than 500,000 years.

Such estimates can be compared to what is happening now. Conservation biologists estimate current extinction rates using historic, documented extinctions. For instance, since 1500 — just after Columbus’s arrival in the Americas — 187 of the roughly 10,000 bird species have gone extinct worldwide.
Spix’s macaw is now extinct in the wild. Conservation programs in Brazil maintain the last 70 or so individuals from this species. (Shutterstock)
Some simple math based on the average duration of fossil species predicts that only two to five bird species should have been lost since 1500. If the fossil data suggests a bird species will persist for three million years before going extinct, a species living in 1500 could be expected to survive for 30,000 years. In other words, a hundredfold drop.

This is the sort of calculation that supports the argument that we are approaching a “sixth mass extinction,” rivalling times in the past when extinction rates were orders of magnitude higher than the long-term average.

However, a high historical extinction rate based on data from the past few centuries may not be helpful. Using the historical extinction rate to predict current rates of extinction is similar to using car crash numbers for Model T Fords in the 1920s to predict deaths on the road in the 2020s. Many more cars hurtle down the road much faster today than they did 100 years ago. But in contrast to the 1920s, cars today sport airbags and other safety features.

Almost 80 per cent of historic bird extinctions were on oceanic islands like Hawaii, Madagascar and New Zealand, and often due to our unwitting importation of rats and snakes. Current threats include habitat destruction and climate change. And, akin to airbags, we are now much more interested in, and able to attempt, active conservation.
The New Zealand kaka, which is on the IUCN’s Endangered List, is threatened by non-native predators and wasps, the latter which compete with the bird for its food source. (Shutterstock)

New rates

Using the same reasoning as before, we studied the number of species that change their status. But instead of considering extinct versus living species from long ago, we considered all levels of endangerment (the entire escalator of decline that moves species closer to extinction), and more recent data. We used numbers from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Red List for all 10,000 bird species from four time points.

The Red List gives each species a threat rating based on the likelihood that it is at risk of extinction. There are six ratings in total, starting with least concern (8,714 species in 2016) and moving through critically endangered (222 species) all the way to extinct in the wild (five species).

We started with the initial records from 1988 and compared them to subsequent updates taken every four to six years. My co-authors – comparative biologist Melanie Monroe and Stuart Butchart, chief scientist at BirdLife International — tallied the number of species that remained in place, rose or descended the extinction escalator decade over decade. Using those numbers, applied mathematician Folmer Bokma calculated a current average rate of extinction — the chance an average species would go extinct in any given year.

The vast majority of species moved down the endangerment escalator. That means that they are at higher risk of extinction today than they were previously. So the final average rate of extinction was high.

Based on the Red List numbers, the expected lifespan of a species living today is only about 5,000 years — this is six times worse than the historical rate and hundreds of times worse than the average extinction rate calculated using fossils.

A silver lining?

These results are surprisingly dismal, but we also found an encouraging pattern. We calculated the overall impact of conservation activity on rates of extinction by including or excluding improvements in risk status due to conservation efforts. Without conservation, our estimate of a 5,000 year future for living species would have dropped to 3,000 years.

Because of intense conservation efforts, a species designated as critically endangered in the past was twice as likely to improve in status as it was to become extinct in the wild. Likewise, from year to year, the probability of a critically endangered species to move up to the relative safety of merely endangered status was greater than the probability of an endangered species having its prospects become critical. This is hard evidence that conservation works.

Costs of preventing extinction

This raises an interesting challenge. It is clear that we can bring species back from the brink of extinction, and many countries engage in last-ditch efforts.

But we also know that 11th-hour intervention is expensive. For instance, in British Columbia, the government recently earmarked nearly $30 million to try to protect the few remaining caribou in the province. We have known for decades that B.C. caribou have been declining, and extreme intervention, like shooting wolves from helicopters, seems, well, desperate.
Efforts to preserve B.C. caribou have included going after their predators. (Shutterstock)
And this desperation is unnecessary. If we want to conserve particular species, we need to target them early. This means we need to pay more attention to species that are not currently critically endangered.

We must identify the species that we want to keep around and that are unlikely to deal well with the world we are creating (or maybe more accurately, destroying) for them. Importantly, these species may currently be assessed as merely vulnerable, or even of least concern. We need to get them off the extinction escalator. It bears repeating: an ounce of prevention, a stitch in time.

This is an updated version of an article originally published on Jan. 16, 2020. The earlier story included an image of a hyacinth macaw (a species that is not endangered) that was misidentified as a Spix’s macaw. The original image has been updated to include an image two Spix’s macaws, which are extinct in the wild.

Written by Arne Mooers, Professor, Biodiversity, Phylogeny & Evolution, Simon Fraser University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

ENDS

---

Forgotten Species on Palm Oil Detectives

These species have no known conservation actions in place and are silently disappearing before we can save them. Do something about it by boycotting supermarket brands linked to tropical deforestation. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife

Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae

Read more

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Read more

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Read more

Parrot Deaths Highlight Urgent Need to Reform CITES

Read more

Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

Read more

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Read more

Load more posts
Something went wrong. Please refresh the page and/or try again.

---

---

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,178 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support
#Amazon #animalExtinction #animalRights #biodiversity #Bird #birds #Birdsong #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #Brazil #deforestation #extinct #extinction #meat #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #songbird #songbirds #soy #SpixMacawCyanopsittaSpixii

Spix Macaw Cyanopsitta spixii South America

Birds like the Spix #Macaw are now #extinct in the wild due to #palmoil #meat and #soy deforestation in the Brazilian #Amazon. Fight back against extinction ...

^{Palm Oil Detectives (YouTube)}

Palm Oil Detectives

2026-02-21 15:31:00

Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae

Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae

IUCN Red List Status: Vulnerable

Location: Indonesia (Sulawesi)

Found across the northern peninsula of Sulawesi in Indonesia, including from the northern tip to the Isthmus of Gorontalo, in primary forest, mangroves, and disturbed habitats with dense cover.

The Gursky’s spectral tarsier Tarsius spectrumgurskyae, also known locally as Wusing, is a recently recognised species of tarsier from northern Sulawesi. Listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN, they have lost more than 30% of their habitat in the past two decades. #Deforestation for #palmoil and #timber, agricultural encroachment, illegal logging, and the #pettrade all threaten their fragile populations. Their survival depends on wild spaces thick with shrubby undergrowth—the very places being rapidly erased. If you love unique #primates like the spectral #tarsier, use your voice and wallet to protect their forest home. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife

youtu.be/FqrauXhLBcY

Known locally as ‘Wusing’, Gursky’s Spectral #Tarsiers have enormous moon-like eyes to help them see in dark forests 🌛👀😽 #Palmoil and the #pet trade are serious threats. Help them survive when you #Boycottpalmoil 🌴🚜❌ #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2026/02/…

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

Found in tree hollows of #Sulawesi #Indonesia, tiny #primates 🐵🧐 Gursky’s Spectral #Tarsiers are #carnivores with their food, #insects 🪲🦗 being poisoned by #palmoil and #pesticides ☠️ Fight for them! #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife @palmoildetect palmoildetectives.com/2026/02/…

Share to BlueSky
Share to Twitter

Appearance & Behaviour

Gursky’s spectral tarsiers also known locally as ‘Wusing’ are hauntingly beautiful tiny #primates with enormous, forward-facing eyes that shine like twin moons in the night. These tiny nocturnal primates have a soft, greyish pelage and elongated fingers adapted for gripping tree branches. They are famed for their extreme leaping ability, known as vertical clinging and leaping (VCL), allowing them to spring through the forest canopy with precision and grace.

Highly social and vocal, they live in monogamous or polygamous groups of 2–11 individuals. At dawn, their eerie territorial duets echo through the forest just before they return to their sleeping sites in dense foliage or tree cavities. They are shy, elusive, and deeply dependent on forest structure to hide, hunt, and sleep.

Threats

Habitat Loss from Illegal Logging

The primary threat to Gursky’s spectral tarsier is the ongoing destruction of Sulawesi’s forests due to illegal logging. These small nocturnal primates depend on dense understorey vegetation and tree cavities for shelter and foraging. When forests are cleared, their sleeping sites vanish and prey becomes scarce, forcing them into smaller, fragmented patches of habitat. Even moderate disturbance causes a sharp drop in population density—from over 150 individuals/km² to as few as 45 in degraded areas (Merker, 2003).

Agricultural Expansion and Palm Oil Plantations

Much of the Gursky’s Spectral Tarsier’s lowland habitat has already been converted to palm oil and timber agriculture, and expansion continues. Between 1990 and 2000, 15.26% of Sulawesi’s forests were cleared for crops, with at least 10% more lost since then (Salim, pers. comm. in IUCN, 2020). Palm oil plantations are one of the main drivers of this forest conversion. Although the species can survive in agroforestry and disturbed areas, their numbers drastically decline when natural vegetation is replaced with monocultures.

Pesticide Exposure from Nearby Farms

Chemical pesticides used in adjacent agricultural zones contaminate the tarsiers’ insect prey, leading to bioaccumulation and poisoning. Tarsiers consume a diet entirely composed of live animal prey, mostly insects, which makes them highly vulnerable to pesticide residues. Ingestion of contaminated insects can lead to neurological damage, reproductive failure, or death, further weakening populations in edge habitats near farmlands.

Predation by Domestic Animals

Domestic dogs and cats introduced into forested areas pose a significant predation risk to tarsiers. These animals often accompany humans into disturbed or agricultural areas, where they hunt or scavenge. Tarsiers are small-bodied, slow on the ground, and often descend to low levels of the forest, making them easy targets. Predation by pets fragments already-vulnerable populations and disrupts group dynamics.

Illegal Capture for the Pet Trade

Although not widespread, the illegal pet trade is an emerging threat. Gursky’s spectral tarsiers are occasionally taken from the wild to be sold in local markets or online. These sensitive, nocturnal animals suffer tremendously in captivity, often dying due to stress, malnutrition, or improper care. Removing them from the wild also breaks apart family groups and contributes to long-term population decline.

Geographic Range

Gursky’s spectral tarsier is endemic to Indonesia, restricted to northern Sulawesi, from the northern tip of the peninsula to the Isthmus of Gorontalo. Their habitat includes lowland primary forests, secondary growth, mangroves, and areas with some human disturbance, such as agroforestry and selectively logged landscapes. However, their density drops dramatically as habitat degradation increases.

Diet

Their diet is 100% carnivorous, consisting entirely of live animal prey. They primarily consume insects such as moths and crickets but also hunt small vertebrates like frogs and lizards. Their night-time hunting is punctuated by bursts of movement and quiet observation as they stalk their prey through the understorey.

Mating and Reproduction

Although detailed reproductive data are scarce for this species, Gursky’s spectral tarsiers likely follow similar breeding patterns to other tarsiers. They are known to breed throughout the year, producing one offspring at a time after a gestation period of about six months. The young are born furred and open-eyed, clinging to their parent as they learn to navigate the trees.

FAQs

How many Gursky’s spectral tarsiers are left in the wild?

Precise population numbers of these tarsiers are not known, but density estimates suggest that in pristine habitats, up to 156 individuals per km² may exist (Gursky, 1997). However, in heavily degraded areas, this number can plummet to as low as 45 individuals per km² (Merker, 2003). Their fragmented range and habitat loss make accurate counts difficult, but population declines are expected to continue if deforestation is not halted.

What is their lifespan in the wild?

While specific data for Tarsius spectrumgurskyae is not available, other tarsier species can live between 8–12 years in the wild. In captivity, where threats like predation are removed, their lifespan may be slightly longer. However, these animals do not thrive in captivity and should never be kept as pets.

What challenges do they face in conservation?

One major challenge is habitat degradation due to logging, agriculture, and the spread of palm oil plantations. Though they can tolerate some disturbance, their population density drops significantly with increasing habitat destruction. Additionally, their small size and elusive nature make them difficult to monitor, and they are sometimes misidentified as other tarsier species, complicating conservation strategies.

Do Gursky’s spectral tarsiers make good pets?

No. These sensitive and social primates should never be kept as pets. Capturing them from the wild is cruel and contributes directly to population collapse. It destroys their family groups, causes immense suffering, and feeds into illegal wildlife trade networks. If you care about their survival, never buy a wild animal and advocate against exotic pet ownership.

Take Action!

The future of the Gursky’s spectral tarsier hangs by a thread. Forests are falling at an alarming rate, replaced with monocultures and poisoned with pesticides. Speak up. Refuse to fund deforestation-driven industries. Boycott palm oil. Protect what’s left of Sulawesi’s dwindling forests and support indigenous-led conservation efforts. Never buy wildlife as pets. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #Vegan #BoycottMeat

Support Gursky’s Tarsiers by going vegan and boycotting palm oil in the supermarket, it’s the #Boycott4Wildlife

Support the conservation of this species

This animal has no protections in place. Read about other forgotten species here. Create art to support this forgotten animal or raise awareness about them by sharing this post and using the #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife hashtags on social media. Also you can boycott palm oil in the supermarket.

Further Information

Shekelle, M., Groves, C. P., Maryanto, I., & Mittermeier, R. A. (2017). Two new tarsier species (Tarsiidae, Primates) and the biogeography of Sulawesi, Indonesia. Primate Conservation, 31, 37–56. researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/…

Shekelle, M. 2020. Tarsius spectrumgurskyae. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2020: e.T162336422A162336580. dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.202…. Accessed on 06 April 2025.

Wikipedia. (n.d.). Gursky’s spectral tarsier. Retrieved April 6, 2025, from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gursky%2…

---

How can I help the #Boycott4Wildlife?

---

Take Action in Five Ways

1. Join the #Boycott4Wildlife on social media and subscribe to stay in the loop: Share posts from this website to your own network on Twitter, Mastadon, Instagram, Facebook and Youtube using the hashtags #Boycottpalmoil #Boycott4Wildlife.

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Instagram
• WordPress
• YouTube
• Mail
• Mastodon

Enter your email address

Sign Up

Join 3,179 other subscribers

2. Contribute stories: Academics, conservationists, scientists, indigenous rights advocates and animal rights advocates working to expose the corruption of the palm oil industry or to save animals can contribute stories to the website.

Wildlife Artist Juanchi Pérez

Read more

Mel Lumby: Dedicated Devotee to Borneo’s Living Beings

Read more

Anthropologist and Author Dr Sophie Chao

Read more

Health Physician Dr Evan Allen

Read more

The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

Read more

How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

Read more

3. Supermarket sleuthing: Next time you’re in the supermarket, take photos of products containing palm oil. Share these to social media along with the hashtags to call out the greenwashing and ecocide of the brands who use palm oil. You can also take photos of palm oil free products and congratulate brands when they go palm oil free.

twitter.com/CuriousApe4/status…

twitter.com/PhillDixon1/status…

twitter.com/mugabe139/status/1…

4. Take to the streets: Get in touch with Palm Oil Detectives to find out more.

5. Donate: Make a one-off or monthly donation to Palm Oil Detectives as a way of saying thank you and to help pay for ongoing running costs of the website and social media campaigns. Donate here

Pledge your support

---

Learn about other animals endangered by palm oil and other agriculture

Global
South America
S.E. Asia
India
Africa
West Papua & PNG

Sunda Flying Lemur Galeopterus variegatus

Keep reading

Western Parotia Parotia sefilata

Keep reading

Capped Langur Trachypithecus pileatus

Keep reading

Mountain Tapir Tapirus pinchaque

Keep reading

Saola Pseudoryx nghetinhensis

Keep reading

Tucuxi Sotalia fluviatilis

Keep reading

---

Learn about “sustainable” palm oil greenwashing

Read more about RSPO greenwashing

Lying
Fake labels
Indigenous Land-grabbing
Human rights abuses
Deforestation
Human health hazards

A 2019 World Health Organisation (WHO) report into the palm oil industry and RSPO finds extensive greenwashing of palm oil deforestation and the murder of endangered animals (i.e. biodiversity loss)

Read more

---

#animals #Boycott4wildlife #BoycottMeat #BoycottPalmOil #BoycottPesticides #carnivores #deforestation #ForgottenAnimals #GurskySSpectralTarsierTarsiusSpectrumgurskyae #hunting #illegalPetTrade #Indonesia #insects #nocturnal #PalmOil #palmOilDeforestation #palmoil #pesticide #pesticides #pet #petTrade #pettrade #poaching #Primate #primates #primatology #Sulawesi #tarsier #tarsiers #timber #vegan #vulnerable #VulnerableSpecies

The Problems with Palm Oil

Discover the environmental and social issues caused by palm oil production. Learn about its impacts on wildlife, indigenous communities, and how to take action with Palm Oil Detectives

^{Palm Oil Detectives}