Site icon MAMMALS OF BORNEO

Ancient Rhino trails at Gng Penrissen

uluulublog

ABOVE: The Kalimantan View Point at the 2000 ha  Borneo Heights Golf Resort in the hills of the Penrissen Range. The Penrissen Range follows the Sarawak-Kalimantan border. Borneo Heights is  approximately 2.5 hours drive from Kuching.

There is an even better view of West Kalimantan from this mini tower. The forested hill in the background is the  sandstone summit of Gunung Penrissen  at 1, 329m the highest point in the Penrissen Range.
The view of West Kalimantan from the Kalimantan view point at  the Borneo Heights  resort.
The view of West Kalimantan from the Kalimantan view point at  the Borneo Heights  Resort. The hills in the far distance are Gunung Niut an extinct volcanic cone now an Indonesian National Park.
In you look closely at the ridge tops still under forest you will note that the ridge vegetation is dominated by palms. This often happens when the ridge is too narrow to support tall heavy dipterocarp trees but wide enough to support an animal trail such as those created by  Bearded  Pigs and Sumatran Rhinos in the past.
These Eugeissona utilis palms  palms often grow along ridge tops  in virgin primary forest in Borneo. E. utilis palms are endemic to Borneo. The carbohydrate rich trunk has long been a staple food (sago or sagu)  for many forest dwelling tribes such as the Penan.
Eugeissona palms grow in clumps and the individual palm stems flower separately in one big bang before dying. The large seeds of Eugeissona utilis are a favourite food of  Bearded Pigs which crush the whole fruit and seed in their strong jaws and the Sumatran rhinoceros which (in the past) swallowed the fruits whole and defecated the seeds in their dung.
This Eugeissona  utilis seed  (after removal of the thin oily pericarp) is approximately 10 cm long and 4 cm width,  easily swallowed whole by a Sumatran Rhino.
Eugeissona utilis seeds are one of the most common large drift seeds found on river banks and coastal beaches on the west coast of Borneo.
The Eugeissona utilis palms  growing along this ridge top are therefore almost certain evidence that this ridge was an ancient Sumatran Rhino trail for many  thousands of years.

The facilities at the Borneo Heights Golf Resort include  a luxurious golf club and a hotel which functions as a Buddhist Retreat. The surrounding forest is extremely rich in interesting plants, birds and small mammals. However, beware that the Penrissen Range is one of the wettest areas of Borneo with rainfall close to 5 meters per annum.

 

Exit mobile version