December Expedition

Whilst the boys took their week holiday at the beginning of December Naomi and I were in the forest where we enjoyed more thunderstorms, did some more running and went in search of banteng! One morning we decided to walk along an old logging road where we often find fresh banteng tracks and dung. We had only walked about 500 meters along the track when we caught onto some fresh prints, having seen banteng twice I was super keen to find some more or Naomi to see so we very quietly walked along the rest of the old road, cameras poised in case we saw a banteng. About 1km down the road we heard a rustling in the trees on our left and after a few more steps the rustling turned into crashing as a large black animal crashed its way through the trees away from us, the size and amount of noise only suggested one animals, a banteng! Unfortunately it all happened so quickly that we didn’t manage to get a photograph but Naomi was very happy to get a glimpse of her first Banteng.

When the boys came back off holiday it was time for Naomi, Jo, Rusdi, Lee and I to head off on expedition. No that all the camera trap grids have been taken down we are undertaking the state-wide survey funded by Sime Derby to locate any remaining population of Banteng. We currently have camera tarps set up in Maliau Basin Conservation Area, Sipitang Forest Reserve and Sapulut Forest Reserve. First we headed to Sapulut, this forest was only visited or the first time in November sour mains aim while we were there was to establish more camera trap stations in different areas of the forest and in areas where there have been possible banteng sightings.

A combination of steep old logging roads and the rainy season meant that driving into locations in the dry morning was reasonably uneventful but getting back out in the rain of the afternoon was often more interesting. On our first day in Sapulut the rains turned the muddy track into and slippery mess and it took 5 of us giving the car some gentle encouragement to gain enough traction to get her up the hill!.. which we then had to try and walk up without falling or getting a tonne of mud caked onto the bottoms of our shoes!

Picture of Naomi and I testing the waterproofing in our raincoats!

On the second day we headed to a different area where there had been more recent banteng reports, as we started to walk along the old road we came across a vehicle parked up, we knew exactly what this meant, hunters were out hunting somewhere on the path ahead of us. Just as we expected we encountered the hunters a few hours later, returning to their cars with their days catch, a bearded pig stuffed in bags on their backs!

To help prevent our cameras being seen and stolen we have become more inventive at hiding them, being the tallest person on the Banteng team it has become my job to put the cameras as high as I can in the trees! This often involves balancing on a log for a bit of extra height whilst drilling in bolts above me!.. I just hope the boys can reach them next month t check them!

Next we went to Sipitang forest reserve, this is about 600km from our house in Lahad Datu and another 7 hours drive from Sapulut. We were staying in the plantation worked base camp, which has the luxury of television, but is at higher altitude to the other forests we visit so is a bit chilly.

On the first day we decided to head to our highest camera stations in an area that is currently being logged. When we arrived at the point on the GPS which stated ‘walk from here’ we found ourselves to not be at the bottom of an old logging road as expected but to be in the middle of a freshly logged area! Thank goodness for the GPS, because without it we would have had no bearings at all. Thankfully the cameras were in an area that is too steep to log so the trees and cameras were still there! No searching through the pile of logsto find it!!

Day 2 in Sipitang took us back to the area where the hunters had to help us get the car unstuck last time I visited this forest, a new gate stops vehicles from getting to this area now unless they have a key. Although as we headed through the gate we could see the condition of the road had deteriorated further and the heavy rain had caused huge crevices to form in the road. With some careful directing, great driving and a bit of road rebuilding (!!) we managed to get quite far along the road before having to abandon the car and walk the remainder of the way. Our decision to abandon the car and walk was an easy one when Lee and I jumped out to inspect one of the bridges to find that it half of it had collapsed and been replaced with two branches!

Rebuilding the road as we go

The bridge of branches

Unfortunately despite the poor road condition and the new gate being established we were shocked to find that at the location of our first two cameras not only the cameras had been stolen but the entire trees had been chopped down. Thankfully the rest of the cameras were intact.

The next day we headed to another area which is in the process of being logged, here we have had exciting signs of banteng but as we arrived.. after getting stuck in the mud.. we could see that the logging had moved closer towards our cameras. The old logging road that we walked along to set the cameras up had become a new logging road in the middle of a large cleared area and the nice easy walk had been turned into an obstacle course of felled trees! Let’s hope banteng like open areas more than closed canopy!

Practicing my circus skills!

On the final day in Sipitang we headed for an area that we couldn’t access last time i visited, due to a landslide. We had been assured that this road was now clear and we could get to our cameras but the previous nights rain meant that another part of the slope had fallen onto the road below preventing us from even getting close to or cameras. Time for plan B. Instead, we decided to head to some other cameras that needed checking, these cameras were over an old broken bridge that when the water is low, you can cross the river bed to get on the bridge and cross the river. As we were driving to the old bridge and discussing what we thought the water would be like we were suddenly stopped as a whole herd of grazing Buffalo appeared on the side of the road. I didn’t even know buffalo existed here so was very pleasantly surprised! As we reached the river our thoughts were confirmed a the quiet flowing river had been turned into a raging monster by the rain, pouring over the broken bridge and around the end of the break where we normally cross.. if only I had my kayak! So these cameras were not getting checked either... time for plan C... back to the room to do some work!

Despite all the logging, broken roads and heavy rain the pictures from the camera traps revealed there to be lots of wildlife in Sipitang including at least two families of Banteng with calves. Yay!

Our final forest to visit was Maliau Basin Conservation Area, this is near Sipitang forest reserve so around 6 hours drive from Sipitang, although the drive gets quicker every time as more and more of the road is tarmaced. We only spent 2 nights in Maliau Basin as all the cameras there can be checked in one day, thankfully we didn’t have any visits from the Malay civet this time! The cameras photographs revealed there to be lots of banteng, elephants with calves and sambar deer with fawns around. This provided great entertainment for everyone while we were going through the photos on the second night, as every cute photo caused me to automatically say ‘aaaaawwww’ even when I tried my best not to!.. the photos were really cute though!

After lots of walking and eating packed lunch’s it was time to head back to the house in Lahad Datu for a Christmas break!