15 July 2026

Trip Report: North and West Sumatra

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

Hereby our trip report of a full 5 weeks spent in may-june in North and West Sumatra. The main goal of this trip was to search for the 4 gibbon species that can be found on Sumatra, as well as the orangutan, and preferably some of the rarer mammal species. In total, we spent about 4 weeks actively looking for mammals in 12 different locations. Since we had a relatively tight budget, we decided to skip some of the more expensive destinations on Sumatra, such as Way Kembas and Tambling wildlife reserve. I want to thank all of our guides on this journey, especially Imam Taufiqurrahman, who is also a passionate mammalwatcher active on this website. The photos in the report have been made by my girlfriend, Colombe Mery. In total we saw at least 37 mammal species, with 32 lifers.

Our schedule

Batu Katak 4 days with 2 trekkings, at least 17 species of mammals seen.
Halaban 1 day trekking with 5 mammal species seen.
Tualang Gepang 4 days of trekking with at least 5 mammal species seen and great potential for much more.
Bukit Lawang 2 days of trekking with 8 species of mammals seen.
Mangrove tour in Langkat 1 day (one evening and one morning) with at least 6 species of mammals seen and one unique reptile.
Palau Weh 7 days, main focus on snorkeling, but still seen at least 4 different mammals.
Andalas University forest 2 days and one evening of walking through the forest 7 species of mammals seen.
Lembah Anai 1 day with at least 7 species of mammals seen
South Siberut 5 days with at least 6 species of mammals seen
Tapan road 2 days with 7 species of mammals seen
Lake Kaco trail 1 day with 2 species of mammals seen
Mount Kerinci trail 1 day with 5 species of mammals seen

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Trip report Sumatra

Post author

Flemming Versloot

Msc Biologist with a passion for mammals and freshwater fish. Currently working on invasive species in the Netherlands.

Post Views: 516

3 Comments

16 July 2026

Markus Engelhart

Great Report, Thanks for sharing!

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25 July 2026

Curtis Hart

Great report, thanks for exploring some unreported areas.

I find Siberut to be really interesting, as everyone gets different info there. When we were there we were guided by Ismeal, his brother Vinsen, and their uncle Jonah. Vinsen has done a lot of cultural tourism and speaks very good English. Vinsen told us that it is the Pig-tailed Langur that is needed for ceremonies surrounding the birth of a male child(large fish for a girl), and that is was taboo for them to hunt the gibbons. This seemed to play out in what we saw, as the gibbons we saw didn’t seem very bothered by us. They were moving as they went over, we never saw them sitting. I also met a guide on the crossing from Padang who said he could easily show us gibbons, but that the other species were harder. Vinsen took us to a traditional lodge for an hour or so which had all the animal skulls that had been eaten there. There were hundreds of Pig-tailed Langur skulls, a few macaques and a few Mentawai Langurs. This was in 2020 and a huge swath had been cut through their forest for a road. If that road was developed, I assume outside hunters have come into the forests. From what we experienced, you were very lucky to see a Siberut Macaque in that area. They said they were extremely difficult.

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25 July 2026

Flemming Versloot

Thanks Markus and Curtis. Curtis what you are describing is indeed a different experience from me, as in the end I saw all species of primates but the gibbons… It is quite likely that a lot has changed in 6 years. Regarding the child ceremonies. The information I got was from a guide on the boat back to Padang who guided a family that stayed with a local tribe. I do not know how trustworthy he is, but it seemed to align with what the cousin of Ismael told us about gibbon hunting and the importance of traditions.

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