Berbak Wildlife Reserve: Jambi, Sumatra

One-fifth of Sumatra’s east coast, on the edge of the Melaka strait, is the location for the Berbak Wildlife Reserve. Recently, Berbak was changed from a game reserve to a national park and it is a swampy refuge due to the fact that nine months of the year large areas of the park are flooded.

In area, the park is 1,760 kilometres and contains Indonesia’s largest peat forest making it an ideal refuge for the Sumatran Tiger as well as the Tapir. Berbak is also the best freshwater reserve in Sumatra. It is estimated that the Sumatran tigers occupy a good percentage of the forest areas.

The Berbak is also home to an ethnic nomadic group called the Kubu tribe. These people were the original inhabitants of the swamps and number about 150. Their unique affinity with the land and the animals residing in the park is renowned.

Over 240 species of birdlife can be found in the reserve including11 kingfisher species and nine of the ten hornbills species.

The park is also home to numerous species of mammals, one in particular, the Sumatram Rhinoceros. Other species include mouse deer, Malayan sunbear, biawak, clouded leopard, siamang, leopard cat, agile gibbon, bearded pig, common otter, hairy-nosed otter, yellow-throated marten, fishing cat, bottle-nose dolphin, and barking deer as well as crocodile’s and turtles.

Because the Berbak reserve is rich in swamplands, the park contains more than 150 species of tree and 13 species of palm.