552 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



Harry C. Raven informed me that about 25 years ago he secured 

 about half a dozen specimens of Anoas (species not specified). 

 He considered the animal fairly common; it occurs even in some 

 of the more thickly settled districts. There is no doubt about its 

 viciousness. It inhabits very dense forests and is by no means 

 easy to come upon. 



The nature reserve of Gunong Tjongkoko Batoeangoes, in the 

 northeast of the Minahassa, is maintained more especially for the 

 Babirussa and the Anoa (Dammerman, 1929, pp. 26, 62). 



Heynsius-Viruly and Van Heurn write (1936, p. 52) : 



In Kolaka [southeastern peninsula] some animals weigh as much as 300 

 Kg. on the hoof [thus doubtless depressicornis, not fergusoni]. . . . 



They live as a rule in higher remote mountainous country, such as the 

 Bonthain district .... With the exception of the kind called "tokata" by 

 the Toradja [fergusoni} . . ., they are very dangerous when shot at; as a 

 consequence they are only sporadically hunted. , . . 



Dwarf buffalo are still abundant in the islands south of Celebes, especially 

 in Kendari (District Laiwoei). Elsewhere they are decreasing slowly. In 

 Totallang it is felt that their hunting should be prohibited. The extension 

 of the Decree on Hunting to this species is therefore desirable. 



The Forest Officer for the Division of Menado reports (in Hit., 

 April, 1937) that the Anoa is still quite common there. 



The Forest Officer at Gorontalo, northern Celebes, writes (in Hit., 

 March, 1937) that the former distribution included all areas cov- 

 ered with old forests in Gorontalo, and has not changed up to the 

 present. Although the animals are now seen less frequently than 

 previously, and have evidently been affected by the development 

 of agriculture, no real depletion has been observed. In former days 

 they were hunted quite commonly for food, but only in the forests 

 in the immediate vicinity of the plantations. They are not killed 

 by professional hunters and therefore are shot only occasionally. 

 Hunting is here allowed practically only on permission of the 

 Resident, and a maximum of six head is allowed on each annual 

 license. The use of lamps, fire-lights, traps, nets, etc., is forbidden. 



The Chief Forester of Celebes writes (in Hit., May, 1937) : "I 

 know from personal experience that this animal is common in the 

 subdivisions of Mamoedjoe, Mamasa, Makale-Rantepao, Palopo, 

 Boeton (mainland), Kendari and Kolaka, which seems to prove 

 that it must also be common in Malili and Masamba. Protected 

 according to the Game Pres. Ord. 1931." 



The Forester at Blora, Java, writes (in litt., February, 1937), 

 from former experience in northern and central Celebes, that the 

 Anoa is still locally numerous, though decreasing as long ago as 

 1928. The decrease is due to eager hunting for the horns and hide, 

 and the animal is also driven away by the advancing cultivation. 



