TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Four endemic species of birds which inhabits the forests across the districts of Paguat, Popayato, and Pohuwatu, in the province of Gorontalo, are now currently classified as at a high risk of extinction.
"The data is based on the research done by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)," said the Junior Ecologist for the Indonesian Avian Conservation Program, Pantiati, in Gorontalo on Tuesday, May 17, 2016.
The four species in question are Maleo Senkawor (Macrocephalon maleo), which IUCN has classified as Endangered (EN), while the Blue-Faced Mandar (Gymcorex rosenbergi), the Sulawesi Kangkareng (Rhabdotorrhinus exhartus), and the Sulawesi Julang (Rhecticeros cassidix), have been classified as Vulnerable (VU).
The news is an irony in itself, as the Popayatu and Paguat Districts are the focus of the Indonesian Government Ecosystem Restoration Program.
According to Pantiati, the Sulawesi Julang and Kangkareng have been categorised as Vulnerable since 2012, due to their rapid decline of their numbers in the wild. "This is caused by habitat destruction by forest fires, gold-mining, as well as illegal poaching," she said.
Both species have been listed on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and are protected under Law No. 7/1999 on the Conservation of Flora and Fauna.
"Both of these species could still be found in the forests of Taluditi, Paguyaman, and Dengilo, which is a part of the Popayato-Paguat Forest Reserve," said Pentiati - who explained that both of these birds are fruitarians, and live in flocks that perches on Banyan trees.
The Popayato-Paguat Forest Reserve also constitute a part of the habitat range of the endangered Maleos - which are megapodes that do not only eat fruits, but seeds, as well as insects, bugs, termites, and snails.
"The beaches along the Panua Reserve in Pohuwatu District is also an important nesting site for Maleos - because they incubate their eggs in the sands along the shore," explained Pantiati.
ANTARANEWS