Going Wild in Borneo Trivia Quiz

Answer: Bornean orangutan

The name 'orangutan' comes from the Malay language meaning 'person of the forest'. Orangutans spend a large proportion of their day above the ground in the forest canopy. Like many great apes, they make nests and platforms in the treetops to sleep on. As well as long arms, orangutans have long fingers that they use to climb through the treetops. Their feet also resemble hands with opposable toes.

All of the other primate options were native to Africa.

Answer: Feathers

The rhinoceros hornbill is one of the largest hornbills living on the island. The bird has a golden horn above their beak called a casque. It's a hollow tube that amplifies the sound of the bird's call. The casque, along with their feathers and beaks, are sometimes used in traditional costumes.

Some fish have photophores; organs that produce light and give the animal bioluminescence.

Answer: It's the smallest subspecies of Asian elephant.

Around 300,000 years ago, the Bornean pygmy elephant became distinct from other Asian elephants. They are generally smaller in size with large ears, short tusks, and exceedingly long tails. Some of these elephants have tails that drag along the floor as they walk! Like many forest-dwelling animals in Asia, the pygmy elephant is under threat from deforestation. Elephants need vast areas to live in order to find enough food to survive.

When the forest is fragmented by new farms and plantations, the elephants' food supply shrinks.

Answer: Borneo bloodsucker

Borneo bloodsuckers live in forests and parks on the island of Borneo and throughout southeast Asia. The lizard has an incredibly long tail which forms 75% of their total body length. They're usually green, but when they feel threatened, they can turn dark brown.

Answer: They swing through the trees using their arms.

Like many primates, the Mueller's gibbon swings through the trees from branch to branch using its arms. They like to eat fruit and forage in the trees for most of the day. Like so many other animals, the gibbons' habitat is under threat from deforestation. When it was assessed in 2008, the Mueller's gibbon was identified as endangered by the IUCN.

Answer: Sumatran rhinoceros

A long time ago, the Sumatran rhinoceros roamed across Asia. Over time, populations decreased until they could only be found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. In 2019, the species was declared extinct in Malaysia when the last female, Iman, died of natural causes. At the time, a small population (thought to be less than 100) of rhinos still lived in the wild in the Indonesian portion of the island.

Loss of habitat means that the population is disparate and the individuals can't meet up to breed. Also, if a female Sumatran rhinoceros doesn't become pregnant for a while, they develop tumours and can become infertile.

Although the other three options have also been under threat, jaguars, golden lion tamarins and Galapagos giant tortoises are native to South America, not Asia.

Answer: It displayed one colour during the day and the other at night.

When it was first discovered, the Mulu flying frog was thought to be highly endemic - it was only found near a single stream in the Gunung Mulu National Park. The tiny frog grows to just 3.5cm and appears to be brown during the day. At night however, its skin becomes bright green.

The species was found when conservationists were able to protect and research 220,000 km sq of rainforest in Borneo. In 2007, the nations of Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia came together to conserve a vast area of the island. Between 2007 and 2010, over 120 new species were discovered as a result of the project.

Answer: Carnivore

Sunda clouded leopards have made their home in the lowland rainforests of Borneo, as well as in the hills of nearby Sumatra. Some animals blend perfectly into their surroundings. The sunda clouded leopard has a pattern of spots and patches that mimics sunlight falling through the rainforest canopy. Like most wild cats, this species is carnivorous and definitely has the teeth for it! Their canines can grow up to 5cm - the longest of any wild cat in proportion to the size of its skull.

Piscivores primarily eat fish, hemovores ingest blood, and nectarivores consume nectar from flowers. Sunda clouded leopards eat meat, so they are carnivores.

Answer: Crown

The white-crowned shama has only been found in Borneo and lives in some of the forests there. It gets its name from a patch of white feathers on its head. The rest of the feathers on its upper body are blue-black and its underparts are bright orange. Its scientific name, copsychus stricklandii, was given in honour of Hugh Edwin Strickland, a 19th century English ornithologist.

Answer: A large nose

As its name suggests, the nasalis larvatus has a large nose (the nasalis is a muscle in the nose). It's thought that their nose creates an echo chamber that amplifies the male's mating call to attract females and intimidate other males. These monkeys have also developed webbed hands and feet, which make them excellent swimmers.

They have been known to outpace crocodiles in the water, one of their main predators in the swamps that they call home.