Mammals of Mt Dulit, Sarawak, an important type locality: with An Annotated List of Species Collected by Charles Hose

Abstract

In 1932, Tom Harrisson, later Curator of the Sarawak Museums (1947-1966), first visited Sarawak as leader of the Oxford University Exploration Club, on an expedition targeting Mt Dulit, type locality of several endemic Borneo mammal species. Supported by Rajah C.V. Brooke, the expedition was initially led by E. Banks, current Curator of the Sarawak Museum. On 27th July, the party reached Base Camp, prepared by the Museum on the bank of the Tinjar river. A ‘High Camp’ was built on the Dulit ridge at 4000 ft (1219 m) and, in September, a subsidiary camp at 2500 ft (760 m) by the Koyan river on the southwest flank of the Dulit range. Banks, with A. W. Moore and two Museum collectors, made an excursion to Gn. Kalulong, 1573 m. The expedition closed in November. The subsequent output amounted to 29 publications, including a report by Harrisson and Hartley on 1050 bird skins presented to the British Museum (Natural History), 10 botanical papers and 15 on insects. Mammal skins were also deposited at the British Museum, but remained unrecorded until John Edwards Hill finally registered the collection. Hill’s list is reproduced here with annotations. In recent years, the Dulit forest has been logged up to about 900 m. Access provided by logging trails has already benefited local naturalists, and is likely to encourage others to investigate this landmark mountain ridge. The mammal collection of the 1932 Sarawak Museum and Oxford University Exploration Club provides historic baseline data.