Activity Patterns, Habitat Use and Density of Malayan Tapir in Royal Belum State Park and Temengor Forest Reserve in Perak

Abstract

Malayan tapir is one of the large mammals found throughout the Peninsular Malaysian Forest. Being among the more frequently photographed animals, there is still a gap in ecological knowledge for this species. Hence, using camera-traps, this study seeks to better understand the population ecology of tapir by investigating its activity pattern and factors that influence its habitat preference and assess its population status in Temengor Forest Reserve (TFR) and Royal Belum State Park (RBSP). The Malayan tapir’s activity pattern was found to be predominantly nocturnal (83.20%) and it was not affected by the predominantly diurnal activity of humans in the landscape; with coefficient of overlaps Δ4 of 0.16 (CI: 0.10-0.22) in TFR and 0.12 (CI: 0.07-0.17) in RBSP. Spatial avoidance towards human habitation was observed where the Malayan tapir was found to prefer forested areas away from human settlements and at high elevation. Highlands thus serve as an important refuge area for the Malayan tapir. Therefore, these highlands must be preserved from conversion for agricultural activities or other land uses. A density of 4.56 ± 0.94 SE adult tapir per 100 km2 and 3.88 ± 0.99 SE adult tapir per 100 km2 was obtained for TFR and RBSP respectively. This result, however, was derived from a 36.78% successful individual identification rate in TFR and 16.31% in RBSP. Key findings from this study serves as an important baseline that will aid the future conservation management plans for the species.