The cuddly Tarsiers were the primary reason why Bohol is the place we long wanted to visit, even before Sagada and Banaue. Aside from its amusing fact that its eyes are bigger than its brains, Tarsiers are becoming endangered. Rita, a Belgian owner of the Nuts Huts told me that some Tarsiers just commit suicide because of depression. Though some find it amusing if not funny. But what’s funny with commiting suicide out of depression? I don’t think it is.. Tarsiers are nocturnal animals, meaning they sleep during the day and are awake during the night. But these are not the cases of Tarsiers who are being used as a Tourist attraction in several restaurants especially in Loboc. They feel harassed by tourists who like to touch and cuddle them.
Intrigued by what Rita told me, I went to one of the Restaurants who offer tourists a free look at Tarsiers. And when I saw, the Tarsier, yes, it was not caged, as emphasized by the restaurant owners. I was later told by the guide who works for the Tarsier Sanctuary (when we visited the place in Carmen, after checking out the restaurant in Loboc), that the Tarsiers were definitely being put into a cage during night time; otherwise they will escape from their captors.
The sanctuary for the Tarsiers has an area of about 7 hectares. A little portion of it is net-covered and has 7 Tarsiers inside for the purpose of letting tourists see the Tarsiers in their natural habitat (no touching allowed).
Comparing the Tarsier I saw at the restaurant, from the ones in the sanctuary, it seemed that the big-eyed little primates were at ease at the sanctuary, while, they looked like harassed and just froze out of fright, clinging to a little branch, anticipating but not wanting to be touched by some stranger who comes into sight.
But who could blame these locals from displaying these cute Tarsiers? They cannot be called illegal, as they are given permits by the DENR, which environmentalists object. But who could stop them? How can they be stopped? There are campaigns about saving these primates from getting extinct. But is it enough? How well is it supported, by whom? Who should be concerned about it? These are simple questions that can simply be answered, in which actions are still yet to be seen.
Anyways, as a whole, Bohol, as a laid back island is the very best place to stay and chill out.
Of course aside from Tarsier, it is known for its Chocolate hills, which I did not miss of course. Our visit however turned out to be a foggy one. It was sunny in the morning. Then it got a bit cloudy during the afternoon. We took a bus from Loboc (Nuts Huts) for the butterfly garden (which has an excellent tour guide. He has thoroughly explained the life cycle of a butterfly. But we didn’t get to see the butterflies in the enclosed garden since it drizzled.) Then we proceeded to the chocolate hills. By the time we arrived at the junction, it was raining heavily. We decided to still proceed since we were in the area already. So we climbed the viewing deck, and viewed the chocolate hills in a haze. Though chilling and looking like wet chicks, I did enjoy that moment despite a debate with Dave about his theory that those hills are not natural. And so I close this sentence with a period.
