Malayan tapir’s days numbered if no action taken

The Star 10 Feb 12;

I REFER to the report on the capture of the 200kg male tapir which somehow strayed into Kg Tun Abdul Razak, Bukit Katil in Malacca recently (The Star, Feb 2).

The tapir is also the animal on the logo of the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS).

The Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the largest of the four species of tapir in world, and the only one native to Asia. It is commonly referred to as “cipan” or “tenuk” by the Malay villagers.

The animal has very poor eyesight, making it rely on its excellent sense of smell and hearing to go about in their every day lives. At the same time the tapir is a vegetarian and forages for tender shoots and leaves of plants.

Although tapirs can bite and cause considerable harm when cornered, the threat is more from humans to the tapir due to loss of available habitats and fragmentation of the remaining forests.

Therefore, the presence of the male tapir in Bukit Katil was not accidental but due to the deforestation of its natural habitat and the probable presence of illegal hunters in its habitat.

The tapir is listed as endangered in the IUCN Red List and although it is now better protected by the new Wildlife Conservation Act 2010 (Act 716) under Perhilitan, more efforts are needed from the state governments as well as the Forestry Department to ensure the preservation and conservation of the tapir’s forest habitats.

A few experts have predicted the extinction of the Malayan Tapir within 10 years if drastic action is not taken.

PROF DR MAKETAB MOHAMED,
President,
Malaysian Nature Society (MNS)

Captured tapir dies of foot injury
New Straits Times 10 Feb 12;

MALACCA: The tapir captured by the state Wildlife and National Parks Department (Perhilitan) at Kampung Tun Razak near here on Feb 1 has died. Malacca Zoo director Ahmad Azhar Mohammed said the 200kg adult male tapir died about half an hour after being transported to the zoo on the same day.

"We tried our best to treat its injuries, but the tapir had been weakened by all the earlier commotion. Its foot had been cut off, most likely by a wire snare. The injury appeared to be old, so the wound had festered and the tissue had become necrotic."