Fun Facts: Biology and Anthropology

Mom sent the following passage, from 1996, but I'm not sure of the source:

A tropical crossroads between mainland Asia and Australia, Indonesia teems with wildlife from both realms, from elephants to tree kangaroos. Some animals are found nowhere else, like the giant Komodo dragon, the Javan rhinoceros, and seven species of birds of paradise. Altogether some 430 of Indonesia's 1,500 bird species and 200 of its 500 mammals as well as hundreds of reptiles and amphibians are unique to the archipelago.

The world's fourth most populous nation, with 200 million people, Indonesia faces a chronic problem of uneven population distribution. More than 60 percent of its people are crammed onto Java. To spread development to the outer islands, the government sponsors a huge transmigration program. Conservative estimates indicate that some three million people, most of them poor and landless, have accepted free house lots and supplies as incentives to move. Unassisted migration accounts for at least two million additional people. Poor land sites and conflicts with local populations continue to plague the program.

Sumatra (the island where I'm headed)

Though much of its lush lowland forest has been cleared, large areas of forest remain in the highlands. In the mountain parks are some of Indonesia's most significant populations of large mammals.