Jumat, 25 Maret 2011

POPULATION DENSITY AND DISTRIBUTION OF LOWLAND ANOA (Bubalus depressicornis) IN SE SULAWESI, INDONESIA

Abdul Haris Mustari

Depatment of Forestry Resources Conservation, Faculty of Forestry
Bogor Agricultural University PO Box 168 Bogor 16001, Indonesia
Email:haris.anoa@yahoo.com

Anoa or dwarf buffalo is endemic to the Island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. The field study was conducted in Tanjung Peropa (38,927 ha) and Tanjung Amolengo (604 ha) Wildlife Reserves, situated in the very remote areas in the south-eastern tip of the mainland of Southeast Sulawesi in the period of 2000 and 2002. Population of the lowland anoa were estimated using the Line Transect Method and Program DISTANCE 4 was applied to estimate density. A total of 20 and 10 sightings of anoas were made during the 372 and 124.3 km of transects walked in Tanjung Peropa and Tanjung Amolengo reserves, respectively. Since the encounters totalled fewer than 40 observations, for analyses, the data were pooled and population density was calculated based on the pooled data, resulting in an estimated density of 1.3 anoas/km2 in Tanjung Peropa and 1.1 anoas/km2 in Tanjung Amolengo. Based on these data, populations of lowland anoa these reserves were estimated to be 506 individuals and 7 individuals in Tanjung Peropa and Tanjung Amolengo respectively. For indirect observations, densities of the dung of the animals were used to determine habitat occupancy in each of the habitat types occupied by lowland anoas, which were shown to include riverine, bamboo, lowland and rocky-lowland forest, and forests at higher altitude up to 900 m asl in Tanjung Peropa and mangrove, beach and lowland forests in Tanjung Amolengo, indicating that lowland anoas occupy a wide range of habitats (indeed, they occur in all the natural forested habitats studied). They could be found in the mangrove forest during low tides and they could also be observed in the mountainous forests at the peak of the reserve. This study revealed that habitat occupancies of the anoas were slightly higher in the riverine, bamboo and lowland forests than in the rocky-lowland forest in Tanjung Peropa whereas the animals spent most of their time in the beach forest in Tanjung Amolengo. The lowland anoas significantly avoid forests near to settlement and road. Anoa are water-dependent animals; they need water every day for drinking and they frequently visited water holes and wallowing sites. Distribution of anoa is weakly but significantly associated with water sources during the dry season.

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