New reports of the presence and ecology of the Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri) in South Sumatra

Abstract

The Sumatran striped rabbit (Nesolagus netscheri Schlegel 1880), endemic to the Indonesian island of Sumatra, is one of the rarest and least known lagomorph in the World. On 2 February 2017, N. netscheri was sighted in the forested Gunung Raya Wildlife Reserve, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia. An immediate follow up survey of local coffee farmers and hunters provided new data on the occurrence and ecology of N. netscheri.

Status of the Sumatran Striped Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri in Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia

“…The diets of N. netscheri have been summarized (Flux 1990;Setiawan et al 2022), but further information about its diet is still required. In constrast to our previous study on the N. netscheri in Gunung Raya Widlife Reserve (Setiawan et al 2018), our interviews with more than 50 local people who frequent the forests suggest that many of them have never seen this rabbit, and almost none of them are intentionally hunted.…”

“…This species has been documented along forests of the Bukit Barisan Mountains, from Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra to Bukit Barisan National Park in southern Sumatran (McCarthy et al 2012(McCarthy et al , 2018. The remaining forests of Bukit Barisan Mountains in South Sumatra Province have been recently reported as important habitat for N. netscheri (Setiawan et al 2018(Setiawan et al , 2019. Established in 2014 with a total of 16.742 ha, Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve (formerly known as Isau-Isau Pasemah Wildlife Reserve) is one protected area in South Sumatra Province located in the Bukit Barisan Mountains (Mahanani et al 2017;Whitten et al 2000).…”

First release of a captured Sumatran striped rabbit Nesolagus netscheri (Schlegel, 1880) into the wild

“…Among the plants, the Cyrtandra sp. was considered as important diet of N. netscheri in the wild (Setiawan et al 2018). The N. netscheri was in captivity for four months (from late September 2021 to early February 2022).…”

“…The species is thought to be found primarily at elevations above 600 m in montane and sub-montane primary habitat of Bukit Barisan mountain range in western Sumatra, from Leuser National Park in the north, to the Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in the south (Flux 1990;Setiawan et al 2019). The Sumatran striped rabbit is presumed to be strongly forest dependent, with the only records in the agricultural landscapes reported around the border of the forest, or in newly clear areas from which they have been displaced (McCarthy et al 2012;Setiawan et al 2018).…”

DNA Extraction of Sumatran Striped Rabbit from Tissue Samples

“…Nesolagus netscheri is found at an altitude between 600-1,600 m [3]. The observations have been reported since 1972, and most recently is on February 2017 in the area of Gunung Raya Wildlife Reserve [14]. Record from Gunung Leuser National Parks [3], Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks [1] [7].…”