Frogs and reptiles
Herping in Borneo
Borneo supports endemic amphibians and reptiles.
This is how the night walks work and what you will find.
Amphibian families
Borneo's frog families
Borneo's amphibians occupy highly specialised niches across the forest floor and the canopy. The Bornean horned frog relies entirely on its angular body and dermal projections to vanish into the dead leaves.
Near the rivers the giant river toad exudes a milky toxic secretion if threatened. In the cool torrential streams of Kinabalu Park the Kinabalu torrent frog's tadpoles use modified abdominal suckers to graze on algae.
Arboreal and terrestrial snakes
The snakes you meet on a night walk are predominantly arboreal hunters. The Bornean keeled green pit viper is frequently encountered coiled motionless on low branches overhanging the trails.
Borneo's forest lizards
Borneo's lizards occupy every layer of the forest architecture. The agamid genus Draco glides between dipterocarp trunks. The Borneo anglehead lizard is a major reward.
Borneo herping locations
- Danum Valley Search access roads for Wallace's flying frog.
- Kinabalu Park Search torrential streams for the Kinabalu torrent frog.
- Poring Hot Springs Search leaf litter for the Sarawak slender litter frog.
Related destinations
Conservation areas and hot springs
Danum Valley
2.5 hours by road from Lahad Datu, Danum Valley is 438 square kilometres of lowland rainforest that was never logged with three very different places to stay inside it.
Rainforest Discovery Centre
Run by the Sabah Forestry Department, the Rainforest Discovery Centre is a 106-hectare gateway into the Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve with a vast steel canopy walkway.
Insects and Spiders
Sabah's rainforest holds immense invertebrate diversity.
Amphibian families
Plan your Borneo herping trip
Tell the team which endemic frogs and nocturnal snakes matter most to your photography to arrange the specialised guides you need.