Chairperson: Axel Geisslinger a.geisslinger@shell.com

Treasurer: Sue Sharpe cakemakker915@hotmail.com

Secretary &newsletter: Dinah Pantic dinah.pantic@bakerhughes.com

Honorary Chairperson & Nature walks Hans Dols hans.dols@shell.com

Web site: Up for grabs!

Panaga Natural History Society Newsletter – June 2014

2014 PNHS Committee

The Panaga Natural History Society (PNHS) is a group of people interested in nature. Our aim is to promote interest in natural history and share knowledge of the natural environment, it’s flora and fauna, in Panaga and around Brunei. We also wish to raise the environmental awareness and commitment of the community.

We welcome all members of the community; if you or someone you know would like to receive this newsletter regularly please contact us and we will add your name to the mailing list. Our events are open to all. If you wish to take part or find out more then please take a look at our website and contact us.

Web: www.bsp.com.bn/panagaclub/pnhs/

Email: pnhs.brunei@gmail.com

Historical newsletter archive: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B_P75SFnGNkZWHllQ0dGcGtLNFE&usp=sharing

To access the PNHS “sightings” list select “sightings” in this link: http://www.panagaclub.com/pnhs/panaga-animal-archive/

PNHS Aims

Upcoming Events

A number of projects are underway or on the “want to do” list and volunteers are needed to help carry out these

ventures. All of the PNHS committee are volunteers and we desperately the support and encouragement of as many

people as possible to be effective. Contact PNHS secretary Dinah Pantic if you have an interest in the PNHS goals or

want to learn more about what we do.

Snake talk by Prof. Ulmar Grafe; 17 June at 7:30 pm, Pelangi room, Panaga Club

Palawan and Tabin parks; Kolbjørn Schjølberg & Dinah Pantic respectively, July, timing TBA

PNHS outings are not formal events. They occur when a group of people decide to have a social gathering and while

doing so invite other members of the PNHS to join, if they are interested.

EDITORS NOTE:

PNHS still don’t have anyone to be our webmaster, despite the pleas for help. If you are interested, or know anyone that

might be interested then let any of the above listed committee members know.

Thanks to Iwan for his contribution on hunting traps. This is an important issue so please contact any of the committee if

traps are sighted.

N. ampullaria

Feather of the Great Argus

Tabin Wildlife Reserve

Blue Krait, photo by Dinah Pantic

Sun Bear

Story and photos by Dinah Pantic.

Recently I had the opportunity to take a short break at Tabin Wildlife Reserve in the NE of Sabah. With no big

expectations, myself and a friend flew from Miri to Kota Kinabalu on a Thursday evening, then from Kota Kinabalu to

Lahad Datu early the next day. We reversed this journey on the Sunday after enjoying a very interesting and

rewarding 3 days and 2 nights at Tabin.

Run by two government departments, Tabin Wildlife Reserve consists of 113,000 hectares of land that is a sanctuary

for many of Borneo’s rare and endangered animals. The reserve contains a central core of primary forest covering

9,000 hectares while the rest is secondary forest having been selectively logged during the 1960-80’s. The forest is

now regenerating with the dominant tree species being the dipterocarp, notable for their two winged seeds. Also

present are the belian or hardwood trees and the magnificent Honey tree (Kompassia excelsa) which towers above

all others and provides nesting sites for wild bees which in turn provides food for the Honey Buzzard, one of which we

saw soaring amongst the clouds. What makes Tabin is interesting is that it is surrounded by palm oil plantations. The

plantations provide a source of food for some of the animals, and the junction between rainforest and plantation

provides clear sky and open habitat allowing sightings of wildlife that would otherwise be difficult.

Our smorgasbord of sightings began before we had even reached the reserve, on the dirt road that runs along the

perimeter, bounded to the left by plantation and to the right, rainforest reserve. A flash of brown and white feathers,

talons holding some type of prey and a pair of pumping wings skimmed in front of the van – this was a Crested

Serpent eagle returning to the forest to eat it’s victim. Around another bend in the road there was a huge monitor

lizard sunning itself and then, barely had the van stopped at the wildlife resort when were greeted with “quick, quick,

there are otters in the stream”. Our adventure had begun.

Left: the Honey tree (Kompassia

excelsa) or Mengaris tree

Middle: the Honey tree soars above

its neighbours

Above: a bees nest attached to a

Honey tree limb

Blue Krait, photo by Dinah Pantic

Activities for the three days centred around forays into the surrounding area looking for sightings of wildlife while on

foot close to the resort, on foot several kilometres from the resort, and in relative comfort on the back of a truck. It was

an excellent mix of activities interspersed with swimming, eating and relaxing; the highlights were many;

We saw several species of Flying Squirrels; their pink reflective eyes flitting around the trees and palms. I never

expected to see one glide; in fact we saw 3 gliding. One was way up high on a dead Honey tree, climbing higher and

higher until it got to the top, turned around a few times then launched itself out into space, eventually gliding out of

sight into the trees below. The next was much closer, on a low tree hanging over the road leading into the resort. We

could see it clearly as it fossicked around then launched itself off, gliding gracefully over to another tree where it

landed, spread eagled, on the trunk.

We hoped to see the wild pygmy elephants but thought this would be unlikely……and then, one morning as we were

returning to the resort after a walk our excellent guide spotted 2 elephants way in the distance, in the palm plantation.

We held our breath as the two male elephants lumbered closer and closer, until they were very near to the plantation

electric boundary fence separated us from them. They looked us over then ambled on.

We saw 7 of the 8 Hornbills that live in Sabah; the Oriental Pied, Asian Black, Wreathed, Rhinoceros, Bushy Crested,

White Crowned and Wrinkled hornbills. A Helmeted hornbill would have completed the set. The whooshing sound of

the Rhinoceros hornbill winging its way through the air is awesome. We saw so many other birds; Oriental Darter,

Storms Stork, Jerdons Baza, White Fronted Falconette, Crested Serpent eagle, Honey Buzzard, Waterhens, Pigeons,

Coucal, Swifts, Swallows, Kingfishers, Trogons, Bee-eaters, Minivets, Bluebirds, Wagtails, Bulbuls, Robins, Sharmas,

Babblers, Flycatchers, Munias, Flowerpeckers, Mynahs, Malkoas….the list goes on. We also saw several Leopard

cats, Civets, Red and Black Giant flying squirrels, Pig-tailed macaques, Long-tailed macaques, Gibbons, plus of

course loads of insects, spiders, lizards, butterflies and moths. We heard but never saw an Oran Utan and a Great

Argus Pheasant. We saw the enclosure where 2 Sumatran Rhinoceros are kept (2 of the 4 left in Sabah) in the hope

they will breed. Tabin – what an experience.

Storms Stork (Ciconia stormi)

Crested Serpent Eagle

(Spilornis Cheela)

Borneon Pygmy elephant (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis)

Note the electric fence strand in the foreground

Yellow-tail butterfly

Clear-wing moth

Leopard cat (Felis

bengalensis)

Rhinoceros hornbill

(Buceros rhinoceros)

White crowned hornbill

(Berenicornis comatus)

Hunters and Traps

Blue Krait, photo by Dinah Pantic

Bruneian black scorpion; photo: Hans Dols

Article and photos by: Iwan de Lugt

On a Monday afternoon in February, our family decided to take a short walk into the H11-H12 area. We were two

adults, two children and our dog. We had been walking in the area before, as it is a good place to let the dog run free,

and you will always spot many birds and if you are lucky, wild boar or even otters. Usually, we just walk on the main

gravel roads, all the way to the Seria channel and the small lakes outside of the dykes (always carefully on the

lookout for crocodiles!) in H12. This time, we decided to explore one of the many trails leading into the forest (in the

past we usually stayed on the main gravel roads).

We entered the forest and had a pleasant walk in the shade, and although we did not see many birds in between the

dense trees, we enjoyed following the small trail. I warned the family to be a bit careful: in the past we had seen

people coming out of the forest with cages and lines, and I suspected that the trail was in use by a poacher and there

might be animal traps around. Sure enough, after a couple hundreds of meters, we found a net trap. It stretched at

least 5 meter, and was suspended from the ground to about 50 cm up on small sticks. I took a few photos and

carefully lowered the net to the forest floor. Although poaching is illegal on BSP concession areas, I did not want to

damage somebody else's property.

We continued on our walk. Unfortunately, minutes later, the dog got caught into a snare trap! He had been bounding

up and down the path in front of us, occasionally disappearing in the foliage on either side when he smelt something

interesting, and accidentally stepped in the noose of a snare. The rope was spring loaded and when he stepped in it,

it tightened around his front paw. You can imagine the scare we got, with the dog yapping and barking in panic from

somewhere invisible in the bush (could he have been bitten by a snake?). Luckily I could release him and he did not

suffer any injuries, although he was very upset. We went home immediately.

BSP and the police reacted promptly. I lodged an incident report and the police and BSP's HSE and security went

with me to the trail a few days later, where we found 11 snare traps and had a chat and took the number plates of a

few people loitering in the area. To my relief, they do take poaching seriously. So if you find evidence of poaching in

BSP concession areas, take photo's, note license plates, and raise the issue with BSP. They will definitely look into it.

See you in the forest.

Close up of the 5 meter net trap

The net trap

Hans Dols

Snake Talk

Professor Ulmar Grafe of the University of Brunei Darussalam has kindly offered to give a snake identification course

Which one to cuddle and which one to avoid?

17th June

7:30 pm

Pelangi room at the Panaga Club

Hope to see you there!

Article and photos: by Dinah Pantic (with much appreciated guidance from Ulrike Bauer for text content)

Locally known as Monkey Cups or Pitcher plants, Nepenthes is a genus of the dicotyledonous family Nepenthaceae.

The plant was originally described in 1658 by a French governor, followed by several other naming conventions until

1737 when the name Nepenthes was bestowed by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. He choose the name Nepenthes

with reference to Homer’s Odyssey in which Helen of Troy is given a potion, “Nepenthes pharakon” by an Egyptian

queen. Nepenthe means “without grief” and according to Linnaeus is a drug the quells all sorrows with forgetfulness. He

was nearly beaten to the post by German botanist Georg Rumphius who discovered two new species in the Malay

Archipelago and gave the name Cantharifera meaning “tankard bearer”. In 1670 Rumphius went blind but managed to

nearly complete the botany manuscript he was compiling with the help of artists and clerks. Unfortunately half of the

illustrations were lost in a fire yet with perseverance he completed the work in 1690. Two years later the ship carrying

the book to the Netherlands was attacked and sunk by a French vessel. Rumphius rewrote it using a copy retained by

Governor-General Johannes Camphuijs however it was not published until 1741, 39 years after his death and by then

Linnaeus had named the plant Nepenthes.

There are around 130 different species (about a third located on Borneo), with new ones being found regularly.

Populations are common across SE Asia with outlying species in Madagascar, Seychelles, India and New Caledonia.

Nepenthes prefer sandy, acidic soils, and are found from lowland coastal areas to the mountains and being carnivorous

valuable nutrients like Nitrogen and Phosphorous, lacking in the soil, are obtained from their prey.

Hans Dols

Monkey Cups & Pitcher plants

The “trap” or U shaped cup of the plant contains fluid, produced by the plant which is

used to drown it’s victim. These might be insects, rats, lizards or even birds. Glands in

the bottom of the “trap” absorb nutrients from the captured prey. The operculum or “lid”

keeps rain from diluting the fluid in the “trap” section and may contain glands to attract

potential prey. Pitchers found near the base of a plant usually are bigger then those

found higher up which are smaller, differently coloured and shaped. Flowers are either

male or female, and found on separate plants.

Brunei hosts many different species of Nepenthes and a number of these reside in the

forest around Labi road where some amazing examples can be seen, particularly N.

rafflesiana pictured below and on the next page.

The next newsletter will continue the Nepenthes theme with interesting insight to the

weird and wonderful trapping methods the plants use to get their nutrients.

Three differing examples of N. rafflesiana. These pitchers were all found at ground level.

Hans Dols

N. hookeriana

N. rafflesiana (note this one was

Located higher up, therefore is more

“horn” shaped

Peristome of N. rafflesiana

N. gracilis

N. albomarginata

N. ampullaria (located higher up) N. ampullaria (near plant base) N. rafflesiana with lid

not yet opened