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A forest under threat |
Home > Support us > Campaigns and appeals > Save the Sumatran rainforest > A forest under threat > Rich in wildlife
Rich in wildlifeTropical rainforests are phenomenally rich in wildlife; home to almost three-quarters of the world's known land-based plants and animals. Harapan Rainforest is no exception, and the variety of life making a home in this forest is astounding. In Harapan Rainforest, over 280 bird species share their home with a huge variety of stunning wildlife from frogs living high in the forest foliage, gibbons swinging from tree to tree, tapirs ambling across the forest floor, to insects that look like plants and plants that mimic insects. Only 100-300 of the frighteningly rare Sumatran tiger remain living in the wild; Harapan Rainforest is one of their last strongholds. Three other subspecies of tiger (Caspian, Javanese and Balinese) have already gone extinct within the last century. The rare Rajah Brooke's birdwing butterfly is among the world's largest, and seeks particular vines on which to lay its eggs. Clouded leopards, extremely secretive in the wild, are found in this forest and are rarer than we first imagined, and the Storm's stork, a white and black stork with distinctive red bill and yellow head, feeds on fish in the forest's rivers and builds solitary nests in the trees – but the trees have disappeared so fast that it is now critically endangered. Harapan Rainforest is incredibly rich in wildlife and home to a stunning array of wildlife. However, none of these can survive without the forest. If we let the destruction of Harapan Rainforest continue, this extraordinary abundance and variety of life will be lost to us forever. |
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Rhinoceros hornbill, face on - Terry Whittaker/FLPA (FLPA)
Sumatran tiger - Dave Watts
Bird illustrations by Mike Langman (RSPB)