Distribution and status of threatened and endemic marsupials on the offshore islands of south-east Sulawesi, Indonesia
Thomas E. Martin A I , Joseph Monkhouse A , Darren P. O’Connell B , Kangkuso Analuddin C , Adi Karya C , Nancy E. C. Priston D , Charlotte A. Palmer A , Barnabas Harrison E , Jack Baddams A , Abdul H. Mustari F , Philip M. Wheeler G and David G. Tosh HA Operation Wallacea, Wallace House, Old Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire, PE23 4EX, UK.
B School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland.
C Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Halu Oleo University of Kendari, Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia.
D Centre for Ecology, Environment and Conservation, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford, OX3 0BP, UK.
E 5 Shackleton Court, 2 Maritime Quay, Isle of Dogs, London, E14 3QF, UK.
F Department of Forest Resources, Conservation, and Ecotourism, Faculty of Forestry, Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Jawa Barat, Indonesia.
G School of Environment, Earth, and Ecosystem Sciences, Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, The Open University, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA, UK.
H Centre for Environmental Data Recording, National Museums of Northern Ireland, 153 Bangor Road, Holywood, County Down, BT18 OEU, UK.
I Corresponding author. Email: tom_martin_2010@yahoo.co.uk
Australian Mammalogy 41(1) 76-81 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM17052
Submitted: 13 November 2017 Accepted: 16 February 2018 Published: 16 March 2018
Abstract
We highlight hitherto unreported populations of two globally threatened phalangerid species on south-east Sulawesi’s offshore islands – bear cuscus (Ailurops ursinus) and small Sulawesi cuscus (Strigocuscus celebensis) – and observations of a third range-restricted species – Peleng cuscus (Strigocuscus pelengensis). Our data are based on records made during 11 years of seasonal surveys on Buton, and short-term expeditions to Kabaena and Manui. Our observations of S. celebensis on Buton, where it occurs in three protected areas, represent an important range extension for this species, as do our observations of A. ursinus on Kabaena, where it is also widespread. We also report the unexpected presence of S. pelengensis on Manui. Buton, in particular, appears to be an important stronghold for both A. ursinus and S. celebensis, given that forest ecosystems here remain extensive and relatively intact. Both these species may also display a previously unreported adaptability to disturbed forest and even some non-forest habitats within our study area. Hunting pressures, a proven threat to these species in northern Sulawesi, may also be lesser here.
Additional keywords: cuscus, Indonesia, marsupial, Phalangeridae, population.
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