Habitat Characteristics and Preferences of Orangutan Nest Trees (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in Tanjung Puting National Park (Camp Leakey Case Study)
Dede Aulia Rahman
Abstract
Abstract. Orangutans (Pongo spp) are widespread in Asia, but are currently only found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. In Central Kalimantan, orangutans with the highest population can be found in Tanjung Puting National Park (TN). Orangutans have a preference in choosing their habitat and having a uniform or group distribution. As a result, management of orangutan populations and their habitats must consider habitat preferences for orangutan populations. The purpose of this study is to determine the characteristics of orangutan habitat preferences, and identify dominant factors in nest tree preferences in orangutans. This research was conducted in February-June 2008 with vegetation analysis. The results of the study with regression analysts showed the dominant ecological factors that determine orangutan habitat. Nest tree preference is the number of feed plant species and nest tree structure. This shows the opportunity for the existence of orangutans in a location will increase with the increasing number of feed plant species. Preferential index analysis based on the Neu (1974) method shows that from 3 locations studied, 2 locations (lowland dipterocarp and mixed swamp forest) had a preferential index higher than other locations.
Abstract. Orangutans (Pongo spp) were once widespread in Asia but are currently found only on the islands of Borneo (Kalimantan) and Sumatra. In Central Kalimantan, orangutans with the highest population number can be found in Tanjung Puting National Park. Orangutans have preferences in their habitat and therefore tend to spread uniformly or in groups. As a consequence, the management of orangutan populations and habitat must consider their habitat preferences. The objectives of this research were to determine the characteristics of orangutan’s habitat preferences, and identify the dominant factors for nest tree preferences of orangutans. This study was conducted in February-June 2008 by using the vegetation analysis. Results of the study with multiple regression analysis showed that the dominant ecology factors which determined orangutan’s habitat and nest tree preference were the number of food plant species and structure of nest trees. This indicated that the probability of the presence of orangutans in a location would increase with an increase in the number of food plant species. Using Neu’s method of preferential index’s analysis, it was concluded that out of the 3 locations studied, 2 locations (dipterocarp low land and mix swamp forest) had preferential indices greater than the other third location.
Key words: Tanjung Puting National Park, orangutan, habitat, nest tree preferences.
