The island of Bohol has two icons that it is known for – the chocolate hills and the tarsiers. Visiting tarsiers is not an easy task as they are tiny, hidden, and nocturnal. But thankfully, there is a place on the island where the tarsier’s habitat is being protected and visitors are able to see the tarsiers up close in a safe environment.
Background On Tarsiers
Tarsiers are small mammals with a tiny body and long tail. They are only found in the jungles of Southeast Asia on certain islands. Due to their low birth rate and large amounts of predators, the tarsier population is threatened on the island of Bohol.
Location of Tarsiers in Bohol
Bohol is an island in the central Philippines that is best known for its tiny primate inhabitant, the tarsier. Located next to the larger island of Cebu, Bohol is easily accessed by ferry or by air.
Overview of the Conservation Center
The Center is found next to the woods that the tarsiers are living inside. There is a wall enclosure surrounding the tarsier area. Here is the outline of a visit you will experience:
- Enter Tarsier Conservation Center building and pay for tickets.
- Enter room with video introduction of tarsiers and dos/don’ts of visit.
- Leave room and follow guide out of building.
- Walk through door in wall to tarsier forested area.
- Follow guide to each tarsier space where guide will point out tarsier sleeping.
- Walk through forest where you will spot 4 or 5 tarsiers.
- Return to conservation center building to learn more about tarsiers.
Price (as of April 2024)
P150 for adult
P120 for child
Free for 7 years old and under
Our Visit
We drove to the Tarsier Conservation Center in Carmen, Bohol from our beach resort on Panglao island. We enjoyed a drive through the hills, showing the kids the habitat surrounding the conservation center, so that they could start to imagine the forest the tarsiers lived in.
The parking lot was free, so we parked and began walking down the path. Right away there were signs telling us to be completely quiet. The bathrooms were found to the right of the path before reaching the entrance to the visitor’s center.
We entered the building and paid at a little table. Us adults paid P150, but our 14 year old, 11 year old, and 9 year old were considered children, so they only paid P120. Our 7 year old was free.
Once we paid, we noticed all visitors in a room, sitting down, so we went inside and there was an introduction movie about tarsiers going on already. We watched until we had seen the whole video through and then when we walked out of the room, there was a guide ready to take us through the forest. He went over how quiet we should be again and started to share information with us about the tarsiers. We entered a door in the wall enclosure and began our walk in the tarsier forest.
The guide was a wealth of knowledge and began sharing about the specific tarsiers that we should meet during our walk that day. He explained that he would try to find the ones that had been spotted first thing in the morning, but tarsiers do move around so we might not see them all. In the end we saw all 4 that they had found, so that was exciting! They were extremely difficult to spot, so it was wonderful having a guide show us where they were. If there was not a guide, we would never have found them!
With each tarsier he found for us, he would let each of us get close, he would help take pictures, and he would share the story of each tarsier. One had just lost a baby from overheating the week before and another tarsier was pregnant. He explained how the tarsiers have territories and how aggressive the males can get. I felt that I understood the plight of the tarsiers in this forest from the guide’s storytelling. As long as we whispered, we could ask lots of different questions that we had about the tarsiers. We did have to be extremely quiet next to the pregnant tarsier, so that her sleep would not be affected by our noise.
Once we exited through the door in the wall enclosure, we were able to ask more questions and the guide took us through the display area of the Tarsier Conservation Center building where we learned more about the tarsier – their bone structure, babies, and diet. We then said good-bye to our guide and looked through the little gift shop before heading out.
