Tarsiers are the worlds smallest primates and the only ones that will only eat meat, often hunting at night for things like bugs, lizards, snakes and small birds. Some interesting facts about tarsiers are:
- They can jump over 5 meters, ever though their body is only about 4-5 inches long. Due to their specialized ankle bones and strong leg muscles they can jump easily.
- Similar to owls, tarsiers can turn their head 180° and they are nocturnal.
- Extremely endangered and their population is decreasing very fast. They only live on a few islands in the Philippines, including Bohol.
- Their population is threatened because they are often taken out of the wild to be pets but the stress of living in captivity causes them to die within just a few weeks.
- Female tarsiers can only have one baby per year.
- They have huge eyes compared to their body, each eye is bigger and heavier than their brain.
We arrived at the tarsier sanctuary at 9:00am which was the best time to see them because the guides know where to find them in the morning. Our guide led us through a half hour nature walk where we saw the tarsiers very well. I knew they would be small but I was amazed at just how tiny they really as pictures make them look so much bigger. It was adorable how big their eyes were for such a small animal. One that our guide pointed out was so curled up that we thought is was a coconut until it moved slightly. Our guide informed us that at night the tarsiers leave the sanctuary to hunt but they come back in time for the morning because it is safer.
