BBC reported that 2 new mammals have been found in Borneo (Kalimantan), Indonesia. They were spotted by automatic cameras, planted at Kayan Mentarang National Park.
According to Callum Rankine, head of the species programme at WWF-UK (the sponsor of this study), “You don’t find new mammals that often, and to do so must be extraordinary”.
Actually, not really.
My brother in law, Firman, said to me that he already discovered several new species, by himself. And they were in Java island (where human have almost fully populated it). Not in some virgin places like Borneo, or Irian (Papua). He’s a biologist working in a University in Jakarta, Indonesia; and sometimes goes around Indonesia in relation to his work.
Problem is, Indonesian institutions & governments lacks interests in these stuff. So this kind of discoveries tend to be done by foreign scientists, and they’ll get all the credit.
Indonesia, he said, is very rich in regard to this topic. We can use this to our own advantage, and it can raise Indonesia’s status in international academic societies. However, our government simply doesn’t have enough interest.
Maybe another day.
It might be too late by then, though.