Crocker Range Carnivores

Posted on March 7, 2017 by matthewjodonnell

Wild Nepenthes sp. © Matthew O’Donnell

My final few days in Sabah were spent around the capital, Kota Kinabalu, from where I took a few day trips to explore the surrounding region.

The highlight of which was a trip to Taman Banjaran in the Crocker Range national park, high in the mountains to the south of KK, a place famed for its carnivorous plants.

Known as Pitcher plants, Nepenthes have adapted to survive in this high altitude and low nutrient environment by catching insects and other animals in their specially adapted leaves which form the pitcher, these victims are then slowly dissolved and the resulting nutrients are absorbed.

Knowing that many species of these plants are found growing in the wild here in Borneo I couldn’t go home without attempting to see them, unfortunately my earlier efforts at Mount Kinabalu were thwarted due to earthquake damage closing off the routes to where they are found.

Fortunately, this time we were successful! Please watch the video below to see what was found. A big thank you to Ebon for his invaluable help in finding these amazing plants.

Amphibian reproduction – Tree frogs use Bromeliads too! Bromeliad Biota

Plant Sciences – The University of Manchester