Bats of the Sangkulirang limestone karst formations, East Kalimantan - a priority region for Bornean bat conservation

Borneo has a significant role to play in the conservation of bat diversity in Southeast Asia, yet there is little

taxonomic and distribution information available for the Indonesian states that represent over two thirds of the

island. We report the results of a four week harp-trap and mist-net survey of four limestone karst formations

on the Sangkulirang peninsula in East Kalimantan during August 2004. We recorded 36 taxa, including two

(a Pipistrellus and Rhinolophus) that may represent new species, and three (Hipposideros bicolor, Myotis

horsfieldii and M. montivagus) that are new records for Kalimantan. Several species, including the karst

dependent and patchily distributed Hipposideros larvatus, Rhinolophus creaghi and R. pusillus, were highly

abundant at the formations. In Borneo, many of the species were previously known from only a few, or

scattered, localities including four Red-Listed species (R. creaghi, M. montivagus, Murina rozendaali and

Kerivoula minuta). We review the Bornean distributions of individual species given recent surveys in

Kalimantan and present taxonomic data from 135 specimens collected during this study. This represents the

largest bat collection in Kalimantan so far undertaken and highlights the Sangkulirang peninsula as a key site

for bat diversity and conservation in Borneo. Threats to this area include disturbance from bird nest collection

in caves, but also mass disturbance from logging and forest fires. We advocate inclusion of the formations and

associated forests into a protected area to safeguard this biological resource.