A visit to one of the couple of Tarsier sanctuaries is also a standard inclusion for any visitor’s itinerary to Bohol. Tarsiers are small monkey-like nocturnal mammals with huge eyes. Today, they are found only in selected countries in South-East Asia, including the Philippines. The sanctuaries in Bohol are apparently well-known, in part because of its successful conversation efforts to protect the mammal.
I had mixed feelings after the visit though. Firstly, the particular sanctuary we visited was pretty crowded, like our visit to the Chocolate Hills just before it. Secondly, there were villagers performing traditional dance and music right beside the sanctuary: which made us wonder wouldn’t these nocturnal Tarsiers? A couple of reviews on Google also complained that these sanctuaries are unethical.
That said, I got the sense that the sanctuary’s management was indeed trying to protect these mammals and at the same time allow the public access to see them. The trees that the Tarsiers were resting in were all roped off to keep visitors a bit of distance away [rest assure though, you can still see the Tarsiers clearly enough], and each open-enclosure had a keeper who made sure visitors behave, and even assisted in helping visitors take pictures of the Tarsiers if they so wish. I noticed that the park keepers were taking extreme close-ups of the Tarsiers, but the Tarsiers themselves did not seem to mind or notice. Either they were sleeping – with eyes still wide open mind you – or are possibly blind during day time that they don’t notice it.
The sanctuary we visited was pretty small, and the afternoon we visited, had just five Tarsiers about.
All said, if you’re curious about these very tame and lovely animals and want to see them, and don’t mind the likely crowds, these sanctuaries are an option. If not, I don’t think you’d be finally missing out on too much anyway.
We next continued onto the Bilar Man-Made Forest!