KAJIAN POTENSI SATWA LIAR UNTUK PENGEMBANGAN EKOWISATA DI TAMAN NASIONAL BUKIT TIGAPULUH

Bukit Tigapuluh National Park with an area of 144,223 ha has high biodiversity of flora and fauna. Wildlife possess high potential for ecotourism development. The Wildlife inventory conducted in the study area by using strip transect method and MacKinnon list species method recorded 49 birds and eight mammals species. Assessment on wildlife attractiveness showed that Helmeted Hornbill (Buceros vigil), Rhinoceros Hornbill (B. rhinoceros), Asian Black Hornbill (Anthracoceros malayanus), Common Flameback (Dinopium javanense), and Great Argus (Argusianus argus) were classified as attractive bird species. Sumatran Tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae) and Siamang (Sympalangus syndactylus) were the most attractive mammal species, while the Mitre Leaf Monkey (Presbytis melalophos), the Black-handed Gibbon/Owa (Hylobates agilis) were included as attractive mammal species. Among three observed ecotourism tracks, Rumah Pohon track had the highest number of wildlife encountered with 35 records. The second higher encounter rate of wildlife was Bukit Lancang track with 29 times encounters, and the poorest was Anak Sungai Akar track with 18 encounters. Besides wildlife there was some ecotourism objects in the camp granit tourism location. There were : 1) the panorama of nature, 2) granit waterfall, 3) a small lake/pond, 4) mersawa giant tree, 5) tree house, 6) information center, 7) river, and 8) swimming pool. Based on the SWOT analysis, development strategies that needs to be conducted were : 1) development of "masterplan" for a comprehensive ecotourism management, 2) increase the ecotourism promotion and dissemination through the mass media, airports, national events, NGOs, and universities, 3) reduce the level of forest destruction due to shifting cultivation, 4) intensify the management of ecotourism by involving the private sector, and 5) improve accessibility to the location of the ecotourism object