Fauna of Indonesia
Rating: 8,7/10 (1340 votes)  The nature of Indonesia is unique in that it has been preserved in its original form in many places, and is distinguished by a wide variety of flora and fauna. Of all the species of mammals known on earth, Indonesia accounts for 12%, different species of birds – 17%, reptiles and amphibians – 16%, insects – over 33% and over 4000 plant species.  Tiger In the 19th century, the English naturalist A.R. Wallace drew a conditional line between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, and between Bali and Lombok, which became a kind of border between the faunal regions: South Asian in the west and Australian in the east. Thus, such large animals as the elephant live to the west of the border, the tiger, orangutan, and the one-horned rhinoceros in Java and the two-horned rhinoceros in Sumatra. Small monkeys can be found on the islands of Timor and Sulawesi. The further east you go, the more Asian species of birds, reptiles, and insects, including butterflies, appear. Moving away from the Wallace line, closer to the east, the number of representatives of the Australian fauna increases, this is noticeable in the province of Papua, where many marsupials live. With its advance, civilization influenced the number of large mammals. In Indonesia, many animal species are found only in one place, endemic. An example is the wild bull, which is found only in Java, the Malay bear and the wild elephant can be found only in Sumatra and Kalimantan, dwarf bull anoa – in Sulawesi, the 'nosed monkey' – in Kalimantan, the Babirus wild pig is found only in Sulawesi and Moluccas. There are many large animals in Sumatra; tigers, rhinos, tapirs, orangutans, panthers live here. There are more of them on this island than on other islands in Indonesia. Rhinos, tapirs, leopards and orangutans are also found in Kalimantan. Sumatra has another type of rare animal – black gibbon monkey. Java is home to the most famous representative of large mammals - the wild bull, or, as it is also called, the banteng. There are sometimes tigers here. Among the small mammals in Indonesia live half-monkeys tupai, the largest bats, whose wings reach 1.5 meters, are called kalong flying foxes. These places are interesting for placental mammals pangolins, which have a scaly shell. In the east, you can find a tree kangaroo, an anteater and some types of couscous. Crocodiles and snakes are very common in many regions of Indonesia, and on the small island of Komodo there is a huge lizard - the Komodo monitor, reaching three meters in length, it is even considered symbol of Indonesia. Other types of lizards are also found here: agamas, geckos, iguanas, toke. The world of birds in Indonesia is very diverse, especially in the southeastern islands, where there are a lot of exotic and variegated birds, such as bird of paradise, hornbill, cassowary, and peacock. There are also many different types of parrots of various sizes. There is a bird that does a lot of damage to rice fields, it is called the manyar. Indonesia has a huge number of insects, including termites, grasshoppers, various beetles, ants and mosquitoes. We also recommend reading Laws of Indonesia Topic: Fauna of Indonesia. |
