Tropical biodiversity conservation conference

Yesterday, 22.10.2014, our project and recent activities were introduced in a presentation on the 1. Tropical biodiversity conservation conference held in Prague.

Presentation abstract:

The Philippine tarsier belongs to the least known nocturnal primates. Tarsiers and the Philippines remaining biodiversity and the ecosystems are under tremendous threats from the increasing human population. Habitat loss and illegal pet trade are the main reasons of tarsier population decrease. The Tarsius project team is involved in tarsier conservation since 2009 integrating research and conservation education. In 2010 we became involved in improving conditions of captive tarsiers abused as a tourist attraction on Bohol Island and in 2011 our suggestions for improvement were accepted and used by local authorities.

Currently we aim to develop an extensive tarsier conservation programme in Bilar, Philippines, which will include establishing a tarsier breeding centre and developing of a conservation educational programme. This professional programme will be done in close cooperation with local partners and local community. As a first centre in the Philippines focusing on conservation and research tarsier in the scientific way, it will serve as a basis for establishing a viable captive population of the Philippine tarsier, enable us to collect data about behaviour of tarsiers in the captivity and to develop detailed husbandry guidelines for the Philippine tarsiers that can be used later on by other facilities