About me
I can live to be sweet sixteen, but I get stressed out easily. I’m sensitive to daylight, noise, and human contact. These big eyes I have? I’m nocturnal, so I need them to see in the dark. I need my quiet time and like to be left alone. I’m shy, okay! In fact, if I’m exposed to too much noise, taken into captivity, or held with too many other animals, it can result in me harming myself to escape. I take my space very seriously.
You could say I’m one-of-a-kind — but there are 18 species of Tarsiers in the wild — we’ve each evolved for the different islands and habitats we’re in — but we’re all endangered because of habitat loss of our rainforest homes.
I’m at my happiest when I get to chill on tree branches and eat my favorite food group: bugs. More specifically, arthropods like beetles, spiders, and cockroaches.
Fast Facts: Did you know?
That I basically look like a little gremlin? These ears and eyes, come on, it’s perfect. Costume contest winner for sure.
That my ears are one-of-a-kind and can hear ultrasound up to 91 kilohertz? That’s the highest score on record for any terrestrial animal!
That I’m said to be a “shy introvert”? They might be right, I may be tiny, but I need my own space -- like over 5 acres of space.
In order to see in the dark, I have the biggest eyes (well, proportionally to my face) of any mammal in the world! I mean, my eyeballs can be bigger than my entire brain (Not sure if that’s a good thing though...oh well!).
That I can turn my head 180 degrees in both ways? I don’t even need that 360 degree view Facebook photo your mom posted.
17 corporations are making massive profits by driving their destruction and the violation of human rights. That has to end NOW.
Why I want to Keep Forests Standing
I stay well-hidden so no one really knows how many of me there are, but they do know that all Tarsier species’ numbers are decreasing due to poaching for the pet trade and habitat destruction including for palm oil plantations across lowland rainforests in Indonesia. Rainforest tree branches are my home, and the more they get cut down, the harder it is for me to survive the daylight and poachers.
Rainforests and shrublands of Southeast Asia, mostly Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, and Brunei.