Tiny Tarsiers

Bohol has a few of the Philippines’ most popular tourist attractions.  The Chocolate Hills is a major draw.  Some say they are the calcified tears of a giant, who suffered a broken heart at the hands of a mortal lover.  Scientists, however, say these are coral & limestone deposits that were eroded into mounds over the years.  (Google them, and you will see that they look like hundreds & hundreds of Hershey’s Kisses!) Of course, the touts aggressively selling this tour don’t bother to tell you that they are only “chocolatey” in the dry season (Dec-May).  This is when the thick scrub vegetation covering the hills is a rich toasted brown, in contrast with the rainforest they rise out of.  Since it’s the rainy season, and everything is green, we decided to pass.  Instead we headed to the Tarsier Visitors Centre near the town of Corella.


Tarsiers are an endangered species, and even though they may look like a tiny monkey, they’re not.  They are related to lemurs, and are the longest surviving mammals on the Philippine islands.  We were able to get quite close to a couple of these cute little guys, other than the fact that they are fairly high up in the trees.  We weren’t able to hold one, but we were told their fur is as soft as cotton.

In relation to body size, their eyes are 150 times larger than our human eyes, which his helpful for their nocturnal habits.  At only 11 cm long, they could fit in the palm of your hand.  Amazingly they can jump 5 metres thanks to their long tail, which is used for balance.  Their diet consists primarily of insects, though they do eat small birds & lizards.  In turn, the largest predator of tarsiers is actually the common house cat.  To counteract this problem, the Centre has put up a tall enough fence to keep the cats out.  Tarsiers have a gestational period of 6 months after which they give birth to only one baby.  They also have to contend with their natural habitat being logged and otherwise developed, but despite all this, it seems that the Centre is making good headway.  I even saw a brochure advertising the adoption of a tarsier.  For 10,000 pesos (approximately $250 Canadian), you would get status updates with photos as to how your furry little friend is doing.

There was a rainforest hike of about 5 km, which we had planned to do.  Upon arriving at the Tarsier Visitors Centre, we expected to stock up on bottled water for the trek, but there was no souvenir shop, convenience store, or even a cooler with water.  With only about ½ cup of water between us, we obviously decided it wouldn’t be prudent to undertake a 1 or 2 hour hike up the steep trail in 30+ degree temperatures.  This was a bit disappointing, especially for Aron, as he’d had his heart set on hiking through the rainforest.  We briefly explored the first 10 minutes of the trail, he got to see some interesting bugs, and then we headed back.  Lesson learned:  Always bring water with you - never assume there will be a store!