The Philippine Tarsier Sanctuary

The Philippine tarsier is a small nocturnal primate with enormous fixed eyes, and it is easily stressed - one of the reasons the roadside operations that let visitors hold them are so poorly regarded. The sanctuary at Corella, run by a conservation foundation, takes the opposite approach: a fenced patch of secondary forest where the animals move freely, and a short guided path where spotters have located a handful of them in the vegetation that morning. You walk quietly, at a distance, with no flash and no touching, and a guide points out each animal clinging to a stem, usually asleep. The whole visit takes under an hour and the emphasis throughout is on not disturbing them.

What you actually see

• The tarsiers in the vegetation - a handful of animals located by spotters along a short forest path.
• The guided walk - the whispered commentary explaining the species and the viewing rules.
• The secondary forest - the fenced regrowth habitat the sanctuary maintains around the trail.
• The information displays - the small visitor centre covering the animal's biology and threats.

When to go

Open year-round, and the visit is short enough to fit into any Bohol day tour. Mornings are quieter than the mid-afternoon coach window when the countryside tours arrive. The animals are nocturnal, so daytime sightings are always sleeping animals; nobody visits at night, and the sanctuary would not allow it.

Honest expectations

Expect to see three to five small sleeping animals at a distance of several metres, and expect it to be over in half an hour. Visitors who imagined an active, close encounter leave disappointed, which is exactly the point. Groups bunch up at each spotted animal and some ignore the no-flash rule. Take care to reach this sanctuary rather than the roadside cages elsewhere on the island that allow handling.

Nearby

The Chocolate Hills, the Loboc river and Panglao are all within a Bohol day loop.