The plight of a tiny wide-eyed mammal caught in a trap is made larger than life in this drawing by Frany hozelly handerie@henry, confidently rendered using different mark-making techniques and values of line. Called “rinukut” in Borneo, Kera Hantu in Malay, western tarsier or Horsfield’s tarsier in English, we recognise this tiniest of primates by the elongated tarsal bones on its hind feet. It is night in the forest, the scene infused with a subdued glow – the nocturnal carnivore has been out hunting and found itself the hunted.

The true subject of this work, however, is not the rinukut and its cries, but the handmade trap, every knot and tie in its cage carefully depicted. A question arises – why is the cage broken?

Rinukut form a vulnerable and protected species found only in Borneo and Sumatra and it is illegal to hunt them. It must not be the first time that tarsiers are accidentally getting themselves caught in traps like this, which must have been set to trap other small animals that have attracted tarsiers to come feast on them. Hunters seem to have deliberately created the trap imperfectly so that the tarsiers can free themselves easily – is this a recent practice by local hunters as a measure to counter this problem? How effective is it? What does this tell us about the relationship between traditional hunting practices and conservation awareness? How do we feel about hunters and traps?