Biodiversitas Journal of Biological Diversity
Vol. 22 No. 1 (2021)

Conservation status of large mammals in protected and logged forests of the greater Taman Negara Landscape, Peninsular Malaysia

Gopalasamy Reuben Clements (Department of Biological Sciences and Jeffrey Sachs Center on Sustainable Development, Sunway University, Malaysia. Jl. Universiti, Bandar Sunway, 47500 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia)
SUSANA ROSTRO-GARCÍA (Panthera, 8 West 40th St., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA)
JAN F. KAMLER (Panthera, 8 West 40th St., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10018, USA)
SONG HORNG LIANG (Pertubuhan Pelindung Alam Malaysia. Jl. Casa Green, 43200 Cheras, Selangor, Malaysia)
ABDUL KADIR BIN ABU HASHIM (Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) Peninsular Malaysia. Jl. Cheras Km. 10, 56100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia)



Article Info

Publish Date
01 Jan 2021

Abstract

Abstract. Clements GR, Rostro-García S, Kamler JF, Liang SH, Hashim AKBA. 2021. Conservation status of large mammals in protected and logged forests of the greater Taman Negara Landscape, Peninsular Malaysia. Biodiversitas 22: 272-277. Peninsular Malaysia contains a large community of IUCN Threatened mammal species, although recent records in some protected areas is unknown. The greater Taman Negara Landscape is one of the national priority areas for tiger conservation, but the recent occurrence of large mammals in the landscape has not been sufficiently updated. Here, we conducted systematic camera-trap surveys in protected and logged forests of the Taman Negara Landscape: Merapoh in Taman Negara National Park (TNM), and the Dungun Timber Complex (DTC), respectively. We found that the diversity of large mammals in TNM appeared to be the same between 2000 and 2016. The detection frequencies (DF) of several Threatened species, such as Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris jacksoni), dhole (Cuon alpinus), and Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica), were similar between surveys, suggesting the relative abundance of these species likely remained stable during the past 16 years. However, the DF of Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) and Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) were lower compared to 2000. In DTC, overall mammalian diversity was relatively lower than in TNM, primarily due to the non-detection of two large ungulates: gaur (Bos gaurus) and sambar (Rusa unicolor). Nevertheless, we recorded several other Threatened species of mammals, suggesting there is potential for this forest reserve to preserve some of Peninsular Malaysia’s most Threatened mammal species. Our results suggest that the Taman Negara Landscape is still an important global site for the conservation of several Threatened species, and we recommend an increase in wildlife law enforcement efforts to ensure the survival of its large and diverse mammalian community.

Copyrights © 2021






Journal Info

Abbrev

biodiv

Publisher

Subject

Agriculture, Biological Sciences & Forestry Biochemistry, Genetics & Molecular Biology

Description

The Biodiversitas Journal was first published in 2000 by the Department of Biology, FMNS, Universitas Sebelas Maret, Surakarta, Indonesia, then in 2006 it was co-published by the Society for Indonesian Biodiversity and that department; since 2017 it was also hosted by Smujo. From 2003-2012 it was ...