Status of the Sumatran Striped Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri in Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve, South Sumatra Province, Indonesia

Abstract

Classified as Data Deficient on the IUCN Red List, the Sumatran Striped Rabbit Nesolagus netscheri is endemic to Sumatra Island of Indonesia and is apparently the rarest lagomorph in the world (Flux 1990; McCarthy et al. 2019). N. netscheri normally inhabits montane forest, but was also recorded in lowland forest, at 544–1900 m elevation (McCarthy et al. 2012; Schai-braun & Hacklander 2016). This species has been documented along forests of the Bukit Barisan Mountains, from Gunung Leuser National Park in northern Sumatra to Bukit Barisan National Park in southern Sumatran (McCarthy et al. 2012, 2018). The remaining forests of Bukit Barisan Mountains in South Sumatra Province have been recently reported as important habitat for N. netscheri (Setiawan et al. 2018, 2019). Established in 2014 with a total of 16.742 ha, Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve (formerly known as Isau-Isau Pasemah Wildlife Reserve) is one protected area in South Sumatra Province located in the Bukit Barisan Mountains (Mahanani et al. 2017; Whitten et al. 2000). The Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve is home for many endangered species of wildlife, particularly N. netscheri (Susilowati 2022). In this paper, we report the occurence and review status of N. netscheri in Isau-Isau Wildlife Reserve. Due to its rarity and endemicity, the coordinates of specific locations are not shown here