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Environmentalists in
Sulawesi are sounding the alarm for the dwindling
population of Maleo, the big bird endemic to the island.
They have noted that the Maleo has disappeared in 44
places where they used to be abundant.
Unlike most birds, Maleo (Macrocephalon maleo) has the
size of a chicken with a white breast and brownish-black
feathers and cannot fly a long distance. This bird
usually flies from one tree to another, and just like a
chicken, it seeks seeds and legumes on the ground.
Maleo birds used to live in nearly regions of Sulawesi.
However, the places where the Maleo used to be found are
now in a state of neglect.
In Tatongko Dua Saudara, North Sulawesi, for instance,
the population of Maleo was reported to have dropped by
80 percent due to uncontrolled egg collection, an
activity which has been going on for decades.
A research conducted recently by the Jambata Foundation,
a non-governmental organization focusing on Maleo
protection, showed that out of 46 locations where Maleo
could be found in the western part of Central Sulawesi
and the northern part of South Sulawesi, Maleo's
existence in 11 sites were considered "threatened" and
"very threatened" in 16 sites. In the remaining sites,
the birds were still considered safe, simply because
they were located in the Lore Lindu National Park.
Palu-based Jambata members also reported that another 44
Maleo habitats have disappeared in the last two decades.
Jambata's director Buttu Ma'dika attributed the
disappearance
of Maleo from 44 areas where they used to be abundant to
excessive collection of Maleo eggs and damage done to
the forest area where the unique birds used to live.
"This research shows that the disappearance of Maleo is
attributed more to human acts than natural disasters,"
Buttu said.
Another unique thing about Maleo birds are the way it
lays eggs. Although it lives in forests and mountains
about 1,200 m above sea level, it will find a lowland
area to lay its eggs. Usually, there are two places
where they lay eggs: a sandy beach or a sandy river
bank. These places must get enough sunshine to warm the
eggs.
Although a Maleo is as big as a chicken, its egg is the
size of an adult's fist. A Maleo egg is the same as five
to six chicken eggs, or weigh about 250 grams. The eggs
are kept in warm sand about 60 cm - 70 cm underground.
When the mother bird lays her eggs, the male bird will
keep watch from a tree and immediately signal its
"spouse" in case of danger.
The legs of a pair of Maleo birds are strong enough to
allow them to move a cubic meter of sand when making a
hole to lay the eggs. In the process, both of t
he
"parents" take turns digging the eggs, including other
holes as decoys to keep their eggs from being discovered
by predators. That's why those digging for Maleo eggs
often find only empty holes.
A pair of Maleo birds can only have, on average, about
seven to eight eggs a year, although research data
showed at least one pair was able to produce 12. The
egg-laying periods are usually in April, October and
November. The eggs are usually laid about a week apart.
After being warmed by the hot sand, the eggs will hatch
between 35 and 75 days after being laid. After the egg
is hatched, the infant Maleo chicks will have to make
its way up through the sand, to find food and deal with
potential dangers on its own.
To this point there is still no conclusive understanding
in the scientific community revealing precisely how the
infant Maleo gets out of the sand.
Djaling, a Maleo warden at Bakiriang Protected Forest in
Banggai
regency, Central Sulawesi, theorizes that a Maleo always
places its eggs in an upright position and when the egg
hatches, the small Maleo will "cut" around the middle of
the egg and use the nearly conical shaped top end of the
egg as piercing shield/umbrella to plow its way up
through the sand. If the shield/umbrella is broken on
the way, the baby Maleo will never reach the surface.
At the Lore Lindu National Park, Maleo prefer laying
eggs in sandy riverbanks. The locations are safer there
than in other places, but there are still a number of
poachers who enter the park.
Despite the problems which threaten the bird's
existence, efforts to breed it in captivity are still
progressing quite slowly, but breeding sites have been
set up in Bakiriang, Pantai Toili, Banggai regency;
Sausu Piore, Donggala regency; and Tanjung Matop, Buol
Regency in Central Sulawesi.
And in these areas, sadly, the threat does not come from
illegal hunters but from government officials who visit
captive breeding sites and take the eggs. Djaling said
that most of them wanted the eggs as "souvenirs" for
their bosses.
Buttu acknowledged that some residents were even in
collusion with forestry officers to sell Maleo eggs on
the market.
These eggs, he said, are offered at Buol market or Toili
market at Rp 2,500 to Rp 5,000 each.
"This so-called captive breeding has been implemented
only to meet the project requirement set by the
government," Buttu added.
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