Amphibians and Reptiles, Orangutans

It takes me a few tries before I can easily pronounce and remember Bukit Baka Bukit Raya National Park. The name might feel unfamiliar at first, but it actually comes from two separate reserves, Bukit Baka and Bukit Raya, which were brought together to form the national park. I’ve come here because the park is known for its abundance of amphibians and reptiles, and I’m interested in finding out more about the species that call this place home. 

Stepping into the forest, I feel the air thickening with moisture and the ground is soft and uneven. Sweat is building up on my forehead, beads of water running down my neck. These humid, tropical conditions may not be my favourite, but they are perfect environments for frogs and lizards.

The shade from the dense canopy keeps temperatures relatively stable, while the constant moisture prevents the forest from ever truly drying out. Small streams, puddles, and damp leaf litter create pockets of water throughout, providing ideal breeding and feeding grounds. For amphibians, this is essential. Their skin needs to stay moist to function properly, allowing them to absorb water and even breathe through it.

For reptiles, the warmth and humidity help regulate their body temperature, allowing them to stay active for longer. Fallen logs and thick undergrowth provide plenty of hiding places, helping them keep cool.

It doesn’t take long before I glimpse the first flicker beneath the leaf litter. At first, it’s hard to tell what I’ve seen. It’s perfectly camouflaged, so I stand still and wait patiently for another movement. Then there it is, a small leaf-litter frog, its mottled brown colouring almost identical to the ground beneath it. It’s easy to see how it got its name. Barely moving, relying on its camouflage to remain unseen, it blends so well into the landscape that without that single flicker, I would have walked straight past it.

But what I’m really searching for is the more famous “lungless frog”, the Bornean flat-headed frog, known locally as Jakai. As the name suggests, this species is the world’s only lungless frog. I won’t be finding it in the leaf litter, though. These frogs prefer the park’s remote headwaters and streams, relying on very specific conditions: cool, fast-flowing, highly oxygenated water.

A key place to look is in shallow streams with large rocks. They often shelter beneath them, flattening themselves like a pancake into narrow crevices. This ‘pancake’ shape allows water to rush over them without washing them away. Having no lungs is part of what makes this possible. They breathe entirely through their skin, and by flattening their bodies, they increase their surface area, allowing them to absorb more oxygen from the water. Amazing adaptation, like a stingray built to stay low, hugging the surface. However, this search might have to wait a bit. 

For now, my attention shifts again, this time upward along the trunks. At first, I mistake it for a piece of bark, perfectly still and pressed flat against the tree. Then, in an instant, it moves. A flying lizard from the genus Draco, often called a flying dragon, clings to the trunk, its body blending seamlessly with the surface.

When it decides to move, it doesn’t climb down. Instead, it launches itself, stretching out its bat-like wings, gliding from tree to tree. They don’t fly like birds, but can glide for over 200 ft (60 m). This allows them to escape predators and conserve energy, with long tails acting as rudders and their camouflaged colouring helping them disappear the moment they land.

Like much of what I’ve seen on this journey so far, this is another example of how species have adapted to this environment, blending in, moving efficiently, and making the most of the space around them.