Endemic Wildlife in Sulawesi
Part of the Sulawesi travel guide — see every topic in All Sulawesi Guides.
Sulawesi lies east of the Wallace Line, the biogeographical boundary Alfred Russel Wallace identified between Asian and Australasian faunas, and it sits in Wallacea — the transitional zone where neither fully applies. Because the island was assembled from separate fragments and has never been connected to a continent, its fauna is extraordinarily endemic: something like ninety-eight per cent of its land mammals and a large share of its birds occur nowhere else. Several of them are among the strangest animals in Asia.
The mammals
The babirusa is a pig whose upper canines grow upward through the snout and curve back towards the forehead. The anoa is a dwarf buffalo, the smallest wild cattle in the world, standing under a metre at the shoulder. Spectral and Gursky's tarsiers are tiny nocturnal primates with enormous eyes that cannot move in their sockets, so they rotate their heads instead. Sulawesi crested black macaques have a punk crest and pink rumps, and are best known from a famous photograph one took of itself. Cuscus, civets and shrews fill in.
The maleo
One of the more remarkable birds anywhere. The maleo is a megapode that does not incubate its eggs with body heat: pairs walk to communal nesting grounds — hot volcanic sand or sun-heated beaches — dig a deep hole, lay a single enormous egg and leave. The chick incubates on geothermal or solar heat, digs itself out fully feathered and able to fly immediately, and receives no parental care whatsoever. The species is endangered, largely because the eggs are collected, and several protected nesting grounds now run guarded hatcheries.
Where to see it
Tangkoko Batuangus nature reserve, near Bitung in the north, is the accessible one: guided dawn and dusk walks reliably produce spectral tarsiers emerging from strangler figs at sunset and troops of crested black macaques, along with hornbills and cuscus. Lore Lindu in the centre has anoa, babirusa and excellent birding, and also holds hundreds of enigmatic megalithic stone figures of unknown date. Nantu and Bogani Nani Wartabone in the north-west protect maleo nesting grounds and babirusa.
Under pressure
Most of Sulawesi's endemic mammals are threatened, and the causes are consistent: forest clearance for agriculture and mining, and hunting for the bushmeat trade. North Sulawesi has a long-documented market trade in wild meat — including macaques, bats, rats and, historically, protected species — which is a genuine conservation problem and one visitors sometimes encounter at the Tomohon market. Choosing guided wildlife tourism in the reserves is the constructive response; buying anything at a wild-meat stall is not.
Endemic Wildlife at a glance
| Position | East of the Wallace Line, in Wallacea |
|---|---|
| Endemism | ~98% of land mammals occur nowhere else |
| The odd ones | Babirusa, anoa, tarsiers, crested black macaques |
| The bird | Maleo — incubates its egg in hot sand, no parental care |
| Most accessible | Tangkoko reserve near Bitung — tarsiers at dusk |
| Threats | Forest loss and the wild-meat trade |