'Is it a mammal?' asks the lady, as the tarsier stares at us warily from its perch.
No. It's a small furry reptile that lays eggs the size of golf balls, I feel like saying. The young take seven years to hatch, then sprout wings and a snout and fly away – never to be seen again…
'Yes ma'am, it is a mammal,' responds our guide, rather more truthfully.
'And how many babies do they give birth to?'
'Only one, ma'am – once a year.'
'And how do they carry their babies?'
'Like that ma'am, in front ma'am,' says our guide, miming a baby tarsier clinging to the belly of its mother.
The tarsier seems to cringe a little as we gather round to snap it with our cameras. In the dim green light that filters through the jungle foliage, I am terrified that someone's flash might go off and blind it. Delicate animals, tarsiers.
PS. Apparently Yoda is distantly related to the tarsier… Fact.
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