JAKARTA, Mar 30 (NNN-ANTARA) – Two new bird species have been identified, in the forest of the isolated Meratus mountain range, at Indonesia’s second-largest island of Kalimantan, the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) said, yesterday.
The BRIN recommends that the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, classify both species as “vulnerable.”
A researcher from the BRIN’s Biosystematics and Evolutionary Research Centre, Mohammad Irham, said that, one of them is Zosterops Meratusensis, with the local name Kacamata Meratus, in olive green with a yellowish pattern on the lower body.
The other one is Cyornis Kadayangensis, or locally known as Sikatan Kadayang, in a blue upper body and a combination of brown, orange, and white on the bottom.
Surrounded by lowland secondary forests, that were degraded by land conversion for agriculture, the isolated Meratus mountain range forms a unique fauna community, as seen in bird groups, Irham said.
He emphasised the importance of conserving animals in the Meratus mountain range, which are threatened by extinction, due to habitat changes and hunting activities by humans.– NNN-ANTARA
