PBF Research Brief Issue #02

ISSUE 2: DEC 2014 | ISSN No: PP 18680/08/2014(033983) PULAU BANDING FOUNDATION IS FINANCIALLY SUPPORTED BY

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DATE OF PUBLICATION 1 DECEMBER 2014 EDITORS • Dr. Daniel Baskaran Krishnapillay • Zainon Kasim • Dato’ Dr. Abdul Rashid Malik CONTRIBUTORS • Dr. Daniel Baskaran Krishnapillay • Zulfadhlan Ahmad Khushairi • Ahmad Najmi Nik Hassan • Mohd Syaiful Mohammad • Hamiazrim Baharim • Yoko Tawa DESIGN & COMPILATION DESIGN218 www.design218.asia COLOUR SEPARATION & PRINTING Atlas Cetak (M) Sdn. Bhd. No 2, Persiaran Industri, Bandar Sri Damansara, 52200 Kuala Lumpur T: (603) 6273 3333

Respected readers, this is the second Research Briefs the Foundation is publishing to highlight the research activities and other scientific information of interest relating to the Belum Temengor Rainforest Complex.

In this issue, we continue to provide information on the research centre where two new facilities have been added to the research complex. This includes the dormitory for researchers which came into operation from October of 2013 while the other facility which is the Interpretative Centre that is just being completed as we prepare this publication. This facility will come into operation in January of 2015. Once again, we take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to Setia Haruman Sdn Bhd for their continued financial support towards the day to day running of the Foundation. In addition, we also take this opportunity to thank our valued sponsors, Sime Darby Foundation and the Prime Minister’s Department, for the one-off-grants provided by them to construct the Interpretative Centre and the Dormitory respectively.

In this issue, we also carry an article on Tapirs and the ongoing research activities on this species; an article on the Sun Bear and another on the Cycads, all found in Belum Temengor. We hope you will enjoy reading these interesting articles and should you have any comments or wish to share your thoughts, please feel free to write to us or e-mail us at the address as show on this cover page.

The next issue of this Research Briefs will be published in June, 2015.

PUBLISHED BY

PULAU BANDING FOUNDATION Unit 3A-3, Level 4, Perdana The Place, Jalan PJU 8/5G, Bandar Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

T: (603) 7710 7066 F: (603) 7710 5066 E: info@pbf.org.my W: www.pbf.org.my

A Malayan Sun Bear

GENERAL

Elevated walkway to the Pulau Banding Interpretative Centre Display Hall

NEW FACILITIES WITHIN THE PULAU BANDING RAINFOREST RESEARCH CENTRE

In the first issue of the Research Briefs it was mentioned that two new facilities were being added to the Research Centre complex.

These are the Pulau Banding Dormitory and the Pulau Banding Interpretative Centre. In this issue some highlights of these two facilities are given.

Visiting scientist’s room on the ground floor with twin sharing facilities and with an attached bathroom Side-view of the completed Dormitory

PULAU BANDING DORMITORY

The dormitory which can accommodate 50 researchers at any one time was completed on 9th July, 2013. It came into full operation in October of 2013. This building was built from the funds provided by the Prime Minister’s Department. The rationale for building this dormitory is to provide researchers, from the various Universities and Research Agencies, carrying out research in the Belum Temengor Rainforest Complex a suitable place to stay at a very minimal rent. The facility has separate floors for male and female researchers. Each room in these floors can accommodate 4 persons. The cost per researcher for a night’s stay is RM 50.00 (Ringgit fifty only). On the ground floor, 5 rooms are allocated for senior scientists to stay. These rooms are air-conditioned and have an attached bathroom each. The rent for each of these rooms are RM120 (Ringgit One hundred and twenty only) per night.

Views of a sharing room, laundry facilities and the dining hall

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PULAU BANDING INTERPRETATIVE CENTRE

Poster display along the open corridor

PULAU BANDING INTERPRETATIVE CENTRE

The building of this centre was completed in November, 2014.

This building has been donated by the Sime Darby Foundation.

The equipping of the centre was made possible from the funds provided by the Prime Minister’s Department. The Pulau Banding Foundation takes this opportunity to sincerely thank both Sime Darby Foundation and our Hon. Prime Minister for their valuable contributions. Some of the fauna specimens to be displayed at the display hall have been made possible by the kind and generous support of the Department of Wildlife and National Parks, Peninsular Malaysia. The purpose of this interpretative centre is to give visitors to Belum Temengor first-hand information about the Belum Temengor Forest Complex, its complex biodiversity and places of interest that the visitors can visit when going into the forest.

Photo display along the enclosed corridor (left); A herbal garden corner (right)

The Interpretative Centre display hall

FAUNA

MALAYAN TAPIR

THE SHY RESIDENT OF BELUM TEMENGOR (TAPIRUS INDICUS) INTRODUCTION

Tapirs, one of an ancient group of animals belonging to the Tapiridae family, are known as “Living fossils”. They are related to the primitive horse and rhinoceros with its first recognizable ancestor appearing across the Holarctic region about 30 million years ago. The prehistoric tapirs inhabited North America, South East Asia and Europe. Worldwide there are four living species of tapir. Three species, namely, the Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestis), Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) and Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque) are found in the Neotropic region.

The fourth species, the Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) can only be found in the South East Asian region. Recently, it has been reported (Mario A. Cozzuol et. al., 2013) that a new species of Tapir has been found in the Amazon Rainforest and it has been named as Tapirus kabomani. With this new finding, the total number of living species of Tapir in the world would now be five.

Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the largest tapir in the Tapiridae family. It has a massive barrel shaped body which is tapering in front and rounded at the back; an adaptation that helps the species to go through dense vegetation in the forest areas with ease. It has short legs, a neck and a tail. There is a presence of a proboscis-like snout formed from its upper lip and nose. It has an extremely large nasal cavity with a highly developed vomeronasal organ used to detect pheromones from other tapirs. A tapir has four toes on each front foot and three toes on each of its hind foot. Tapirs weigh between 300 – 350 kg on the average but some individuals can go up to 540 kg. Their body length varies from 185-250 cm while their height from the ground ranges between 90-105 cm. Malayan Tapir can easily be identified by its dark black body color with a large white saddle on it. The juveniles however, when newly born have a brown body color with a yellow stripe. Since 2008, the Malayan Tapir has been listed as an endangered species in the IUCN Red List (IUCN 2011). Tapirs are very sensitive to habitat changes and they are the first species that will be badly affected by human intervention in the forest.

Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus)

BEHAVIOUR

The Malayan Tapir is a large animal, but they are naturally shy and timid. They are nocturnal and hence are active from night fall to the early morning hours. They rest and hide in the forest during the day to avoid their natural predators such as the tigers and leopards. Malayan Tapirs are generally solitary except during the mating season. Even though the Tapirs are solitary, their roaming territory usually overlaps with 2 or 3 other tapirs. This is so because each tapir needs an area of about 12.75 Km2 for its grazing and movement. The young Tapir calves will stay with their mother for about 1-2 years. Generally, tapirs spray their urine on to trees to mark their territory and also to show their presence.

The Malayan Tapirs being herbivores eat various types of fruits, leaves and plants. An earlier study in Taman Negara showed that a tapir consumes more than 115 species of plants as its food. Malayan Tapirs also frequently visit salt licks to obtain their required mineral salts needed by their body. Based on a recent study in Belum Temengor Forest Complex (Yuko Tawa, 2014) it was reported that the tapirs frequented the salt licks between 2000 hours and 0500 hours. They were reported to use the salt licks from a few minutes to more than an hour. This preliminary study showed the importance of salt licks in the ecology of the tapir’s habitat.

Tapirs communicate with each other by making clicking sounds.

There is still a lot more research needed to understand this method of communication. There is now an ongoing research programme being undertaken by a researcher from the Foundation and a post graduate student from the Kyoto University in Japan to understand this mode of communication.

Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) Photo courtesy of Pixabay

As mentioned earlier, the tapirs are really shy and timid. They avoid human contact where ever possible. When they sense the presence of predators or humans, they generally tend to flee from sight. However, in the wild, if humans take them by surprise and if they sense danger or feel threatened, they will attack and bite with their strong teeth. In zoos however, the captive tapirs are generally very friendly and curious but they still can attack and kill humans if they smell danger or feel threatened.

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DISTRIBUTION AND POPULATION

Malayan Tapirs can be found in various areas such as mountain forest, hill forest, logged disturbed forest, secondary forest, swamp forest and forest fringes. Generally, tapirs are lowland species similar to other large mammals.

In the early eighties, tapirs could be found in all the states in Peninsular Malaysia but now the effective range has been reduced to within the Belum Temengor Forest Reserve, Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, Taman Negara Forest Reserve, Endau-Rompin Forest Reserve and the Pahang Peat Swamp Forest. Within Belum Temengor Rainforest, Malayan tapirs can be observed in various areas like Sungai Kejar, Sungai Tiang, Sira Tersau and also in Sungai Ular.

Single Tapir at the salt lick

THREATS

Mating pair at the salt lick

Camera trap pictures of tapirs at the salt lick in the late night, at Belum Temengor

Over the past 40 years the Malayan Tapir population has been estimated to have decreased by more than 50 percent in Malaysia.

The main threat has been habitat degradation. Tapirs, live in their own territory and only move out to find food and also for mating.

Habitat fragmentation and destruction has become one of the main threats facing tapirs these days. Forest fragmentation has reduced their playgrounds and feeding grounds and has become a threat for them as they can be easily spotted by their predators and also poachers. Every 100 Km2 of undisturbed forest can support about 9.45 adult tapirs. Forest fragmentation through building roads, clearing and developing rubber and oil palm plantations also pose a threat to them as when they cross the roads in search for grazing grounds they have a high chance of being hit by cars and other vehicles or as they pass through plantations they are susceptible to poaching. Malayan tapir is hunted for meat by poachers. There are a few reports that claim that poachers have started to hunt for the Malayan Tapir meat for sale to exotic food restaurants and this trade is becoming quite lucrative. Decreasing population of tapirs will cause disturbance in some key ecological process such as seeds dispersal and nutrient cycling. Developing appropriate conservation strategies in-situ is hence inevitable.

References Danaraj Mark Rayan, Shariff Wan Mohamad, Leejiah Dorward, Sheema Abdul Aziz, Gopalasamy Reuben Clements, Wong Chai Thiam Christopher, Carl Traeholt and David Magintan.(2012) Estimating the population density of the Asian tapir (Tapirus indicus) in a selectively logged forest in Peninsular Malaysia. Integrative Zoology. 7: 373–380.

Keith D. Williams and George A Petrides. (1980) Browse Use, Feeding Behavior, and Management of the Malayan Tapir.

The Journal of Wildlife Management. Vol. 44, No 2: 489-494 Tapir specialist group Press kit. Website: www.tapir.org Wildlife and National Park, Peninsular Malaysia (2009). Tapir (Tapirus indicus) In Peninsular Malaysia. Tapir Information Sheet.

Yuko Tawa. (2014) Progress report on Function of the Communication via Scent and Vocalization between Malayan Tapirs.

Kyoto University, Japan Mario A. Cozzuol, Camila L. Clozato, Elizete C. Holanda, Flávio H. G. Rodrigues, Samuel Nienow, Benoit de Thoisy, Rodrigo A. F. Redondo, and Fabrício R. Santos (2013). A new species of tapir from the Amazon. Journal of Mammalogy, 94(6):1331-1345.

FAUNA

MALAYAN SUN BEAR

THE HONEY SUCKLERS OF BELUM TEMENGOR (HELARCTOS MALAYANUS) INTRODUCTION

Malaysia is home to the smallest bear in the family of Ursidae.

It is called the Malayan Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus). It measures about 120-150 cm in length and weighs around 27-65 Kg (Stirling, 1993). The adult sun bears are much smaller when compared to the lovable giant panda. Their fur is usually black, though there have been sightings of sun bears with reddish to grey pelage. Well adapted to tropical climate, sun bear’s hair length are the shortest among any of the other bear species. Malayan sun bears have a distinguishing white chest patch which is usually in a shape of ‘U’ just below their neck. This mammal has a massive set of teeth, especially the canines, considering the small size of its body when compared to other bear species (Sevheen, 1999). The tongue of the bear is remarkably long, which can elongate to about 20-25 cm in length during feeding.

Malayan sun bears are unique in terms of their morphological characteristics when compared to other bears. The front feet are inward and they have long and heavy claws. This adaptation helps the sun bear in the tropical rainforest to climb the tall trees. The Malayan sun bears hence have become expert climbers and they do so to seek for food source especially honey, their favorite among all other food.

This animal’s voracious appetite for honey and honeycomb make the locals sometimes called it a Honey Bear. There have been sightings of sun bears sleeping on branches of tall trees. This ability for them to rest and sleep comfortably on big branches provides them excellent protection from their predators lurking down below.

Sun bear feeding on a citrus fruit. Photo courtesy of Pixabay References Sevheen, C. (1999). Sun bear conservation action plan.

Bear-Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland: 219-224 Stirling, I. (1993). Majestic Creatures of the World.

Rodale Press, Emmaus.

Wong, S.T (2004). The Status of Malayan Sun Bears in Malaysia, Understanding Asian Bears to Secure Their Future. Chapter 9: 66-72

Camera trap picture of a sun bear foraging for food in the evening hours within Belum Temengor

THREATS

Although this bear species is endemic to Southeast Asia, little is known about its ecology and behavior. Only a small amount of research has been conducted on this particular species of Ursidea and much remains to be done to ensure that they are sufficiently protected and conserved.

The natural habitat for the sun bear is the lowland tropical hardwood forest in Southeast Asia. This includes also the Peninsular and East Malaysia. Unsustainable logging activities of these forests render the forest as unsuitable habitat for the sun bears thus, contributing to the decline in its population (Sevheen, 1999). This species generally sleeps during the day time and will forage for food at night (Wong, 2004). As a result of deforestation, it is estimated that the Malayan sun bears that are still surviving in the wild are merely 25% of the total population when compared to some 60 years ago, based on the habitat loss through deforestation (Sevheen, 1999). In addition to deforestation, illegal hunting and trading also affect the population of the Malayan sun bear. There is a high demand in the illegal market for Malayan sun bear especially its gall bladder which is believed to have medical properties. The bile juices from the gall bladder are used exclusively in Chinese traditional medicines.

Some of the mystic-believers believe that the claws and canines of Malayan sun bear are capable of repelling evil spirits away and these items are still available in jewelry and antique shops in Sabah (Wong, 2004). Locals have small demand for the bears, though foreign illegal markets are the real driver of the illegal hunting of Malayan sun bears.

In Belum Temengor, very few encounters have been made by people with this mammal. However, there are sightings of traces left

by Malayan sun bear, such as claw marks on tree barks, climbing traces on tualang trees (Koompassia excelsa) and fecal remains of the sun bear within the forest complex showing their existence.

To date, little research have been carried out with regards to the Malayan sun bears which leaves us still clueless on the natural reproduction, population range, diets and other behavioral habits of these fearsome but yet defenseless animals.

FLORA

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CYCAS CLIVICOLA

THE HANGING GARDENS IN BELUM TEMENGOR

A Cycas clivicola growing under a large tree on the hill top in Belum Temengor (left)

INTRODUCTION

Cycads (Cycadaceae) appeared first on earth some 270-280 million years ago and made up the dominant flora during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods (100-200 million years ago).

They remain a part of our modern flora with about 300 species in three families, distributed primarily in tropical and sub-tropical regions. Cycadaceae is today represented by a single genus, Cycas with about 90 species scattered throughout Australia, Indo China, Malesian region, Japan, South Asia and East Africa. Reference (Jutta et. al., 2008).

Cycads are dioecious, with separate male and female individuals. They produce large seeds with a fleshy coating and a hard centre which are recalcitrant in nature. The seeds are dispersed to nearby soil by birds, rodents and fruit bats, where they must germinate quickly to survive. If conditions are not suitable for germination, the seeds will die. Cycads are long-lived, slow-growing, and have a low reproductive rate.

The cycad roots contain cyanobacteria that exist in a symbiotic relationship and provide nutrients by fixing atmospheric nitrogen into a usable form that can be utilized by the cycads.

THE GENUS CYCAS

Malaysia, is home to three species namely the Cycas litoralis found on sandy and rocky seashores; Cycas clivicola found on limestone cliffs and Cycas macrocarpa found as a primary forest understorey plant.

Of interest to Belum Temengor Rainforest Complex is the Cycas clivicola. This species is also known as “The Cliff Cycad”. It derives its name from the Latin word ‘clivis’ which means a cliff, and the Latin suffix, ‘cola’ which means a dweller. This is in reference to the fact that this plant grows on limestone cliffs.

The beauty of this cycad is visible at the limestone outcrop in Temengor called as ‘batu putih’. The plant grows downwards from the cliff to a length of about 10 meters or more. The long, often gnarled and twisted trunks bears testimony to centuries of exposure to harsh conditions of their habitat. In contrast are their graceful crowns of pinnate fronds that continually regenerate with great charm. This beautiful sight reminds the viewer of the ‘The Hanging Gardens of Babylon’.

The Cliff Cycad (Cycas clivicola) at Batu Putih in Belum Temengor

THREATS

The attractiveness of the cycads is also their greatest weakness.

They are prized ornamentals in the international market. The 1997 IUCN Red List has included all the three species found in Malaysia as threatened in the world (Walter & Gillet, 1998). Fifty two percent of all cycads are listed as threatened, mainly due to habitat loss and harvesting from the wild (Donaldson, 2003).

CONSERVATION MEASURES

Cycad conservation is important to many sectors. These cycads are an important group in horticulture, as well as being an ancient plant taxon. They contribute to the health and fertility of soil through their relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria, and they are also of interest to the pharmaceutical industry due to some of the unique compounds contained within them. Currently there is no targeted conservation action for this species in Malaysia.

References Jutta M., L.S.L. Chua and L.G. Saw (2008) Malayan Cycads – Ancient Plants with Little Hope for the future? Conservation Malaysia Bulletin Issue No.8. Forest Research Institute Malaysia.

Donaldson J.S. (2003). Cycads. Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN/SSC Cycad Specialist Group. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K. Walter K.S. and Gillet H.J. (eds) (1998). 1997 IUCN Red List of Threatened Plants. Compiled by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre. IUCN-The World Conservation Union, Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, U.K.

PUBLICATION

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PBF FAUNA HANDBOOK SERIES AQUATIC MACROINVERTEBRATES OF BELUM TEMENGOR RAINFOREST STREAMS The publication of Aquatic Macroinvertebrates of Belum Temengor Rainforest Streams is aimed at helping many public enthusiasts and aquatic researchers to easily recognise and enjoy various forms and sizes of mainly immature stage of aquatic insects found in the forest streams of Belum Temengor rainforests in Malaysia. Although only few selected aquatic insect genera living in this forest streams and rivers are documented in this book, this has been the first initiative to properly document the rich and diverse fauna of aquatic insects in Malaysia. This book will be useful for students and researchers of aquatic entomology, environmental entomology as well as aquatic biology. In addition, it will be a useful tool for the Green Ranger Malaysia training programmes to teach our young minds to appreciate Nature’s creations.

UPCOMING SEMINAR/CONFERENCES 2015 January 1-2, 2015 International Conference on Plant, Marine and Environmental Sciences (PMES 2015) The Grand Seasons Hotel, Kuala Lumpur

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

February 10-11, 2015 International Conference on Agricultural, Ecological and Medical Sciences (AEMS 2015) Bayview Hotel, Penang

PBF extends its sincere thanks to the followings for their generous financial support.

PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT

May 27-29, 2015 4th International Conference on Environmental Research and Technology (ICERT 2015) Parkroyal Resort, Penang

August 19-20, 2015 The International Conference on Environmental Forensics 2015 Marriott Hotel, Putrajaya

CONTACT US Headquarters

Pulau Banding Foundation Unit 3A-3, Level 4, Perdana The Place, Jalan PJU 8/5G, Bandar Damansara Perdana, 47820 Petaling Jaya, Selangor Darul Ehsan.

T: (603) 7710 7066 F: (603) 7710 5066 E: info@pbf.org.my W: www.pbf.org.my

Research Centre Pulau Banding Rainforest Research Center Pulau Banding, 33300 Gerik, Perak T: 05-7915843 F: 05-7912763 E: info@pbf.org.my W: www.pbf.org.my