"Earth´s Tropical Islands" is a three-part British-American nature documentary (with some anthropology thrown in), dealing with Madagascar, Borneo and Hawaii. I just watched the second part, about the large East Indian island of Borneo, politically split between Malaysia and Indonesia. It´s the same basic story: a biodiversity hotspot with many endemics, threatened by large-scale deforestation at the hands of Man. As far as I understand, the docu was made on the Malaysian side of the border.
Animal species shown include the proboscis monkey (one of the few monkeys that can swim), the saltwater crocodile, the sun bear, and the Borneo orangutan. Plants shown include the pitcher plant, a "carnivorous" plant that catches and "eats" insects.
We get to see the fabulous coral reefs off the Bornean coast, and meet some of its denizens, including a group of human "sea nomads" (Bajau) who have supposedly become so well adapted to diving that their spleens are 50% larger than average. The "nomads" can also hold their breath underwater for up to three minutes, apparently longer than any other human. Another peculiar human group shown are the Penans (known to all anthropology controversialists). Conspicuous by their absence are the Dayak "head hunters".
The most bizarre eco-system shown is created by bat feces inside a large, dark cave. The feces is feasted upon by swarms of cockroaches. Centipedes and even crabs are also part of this truly lost world!
Perhaps all of Borneo will be lost one day, but at least we can say that these creatures lasted longer than the crazy orangutan cousin who might still kill them all off...
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