Published on: Monday, March 08, 2021 By: Antara News Text Size: Changes also occurred with the disappearance of the fish that were usually found around the mangroves near the village on account of the land-clearing. JAKARTA: Renowned biologist Alfred Russel Wallace has famously written about his delight at discovering an Ornithoptera croesus, or Wallace’s Golden Birdwing, a butterfly native to North Maluku, during a visit to Bacan Island. During his four-year expedition in North Maluku, that began in 1858, Wallace also crossed paths with a Semioptra walacii, or the Angel Bird, that is again endemic to North Maluku. It seems, however, that the habitats of the birdwings and the Halmahera angel birds in the Halmahera Islands are no longer the same as when the British naturalist first explored the land of Moloku Kie Raha. With the passage of time, an increase in human needs has led to the expansion of forest clearing for agriculture, plantations, and mining.