We tape spool and line devices to butaan that have been caught and release them at the exact point of capture as soon as possible. Spool and line data gives us a detailed account of the animals' movementes for a few hours, days or weeks after release. We have also used spool and line very effectively on other animals, including the endemic Polillo forest snail Helicostyla portei.
Butaan start to visit fruiting trees before they are large enough to
swallow the fruits. They make repeat journeys to trees, perhaps to
reinforce memory of the position of the tree. If the youngster survives
it may continue to use this tree for many decades. Fruiting trees like
this are a vital resource for entire populations of butaan. Learn more >
We use feces to investigate diet and activity areas of butaan. In total we have examined more than 1500 samples, possibly the largest ever collected for a single population of reptiles.
Butaan and their relatives are huge specialised frugivores, much bigger
than any other specialised frugivorous animal in the Philippines. They
need a constant supply of fruit but lack the wings that allow other
frugivores to forage in different forest fragments. Large and immobile,
the butaan depends on a very narrow range of foods.
We tape spool and line devices to butaan that have been caught and release them at the exact point of capture as soon as possible. Spool and line data gives us a detailed account of the animals' movementes for a few hours, days or weeks after release. We have also used spool and line very effectively on other animals, including the endemic Polillo forest snail Helicostyla portei.
We use feces to investigate diet and activity areas of butaan. In total we have examined more than 1500 samples, possibly the largest ever collected for a single population of reptiles.
Butaan and their relatives are huge specialised frugivores, much bigger
than any other specialised frugivorous animal in the Philippines. They
need a constant supply of fruit but lack the wings that allow other
frugivores to forage in different forest fragments. Large and immobile,
the butaan depends on a very narrow range of foods.