Thursday, May 20, 2010

Talk on Malay Tapir (Tapirus indicus)








Malaysian Nature Society had conducted a talk session on Malay Tapir (Tapirus indicus) held at Rimba Ilmu, Universiti Malaya on 24 April 2010. Four speakers had presented their papers during the talk. They were Dr. Carl Traeholt, Mr. Boyd Simpson and En. Mohd Sanusi Bin Mohamed of Malay Tapir Conservation Project. The other speaker was En. David Magintan of PERHILITAN.

Dr. Carl's gave a presentation on 'Introduction to Tapirs and and their conservation, with special focus on the Malay Tapir'; Mr. Boyd Simpson on 'Radio-telemetry, salt-licks and their use by tapirs; En. Sanusi on 'Camera trapping, radio-telemetry and trapping  of Tapirs: practical, implications and challenges' while En. David Magintan on 'Tapir conservation in Malaysia'.

The talk been conducted in conjuction with World Tapir Day (27 April) and 2010 World Biodiversity Year'.

Based on the presentations, it is learned that there are four types of Tapir that still exist around the world, namely as Malay Tapir (Tapirus indicus), Mountain Tapir (Tapirus pinchaque), Lowland Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)  and Baird's Tapir (Tapirus bairdii).



Malay Tapir Conservation Project is a project runs by PERHILITAN and Nature Conservation Zoo Copenhagen, in order to conserve the Malay Tapir, locally known as Tapir, Tenuk, Cipan or Badak Tampung. The project is located at Krau Wildlife Reserve in Pahang and Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre in Selangor