#TapirCampaign
A Malaysian Nature Society effort to save this increasingly threatened mammal through public awareness and community participation
INTRODUCTION

The Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) is one of the tropical rainforest’s unique mammals, with its black and white colouring and short, prehensile snout.
       Habitat loss due to agriculture and development means the tapir is severely threatened, with populations in decline and restricted mostly to protected areas and the forested landscape in between. 
      In Malaysia, the tapir population is thought to be located mainly in the Central Forest Spine.         


      There are estimated to be only some 1,100 to 1,500 individual tapirs left in the country, with the population shrinking rapidly. 
      The tapir can be found in various habitat types, from peat swamps to lower montane forests, where it plays an important ecological role in the ecosystem, by dispersing seeds and thus promoting new growth in cleared areas.
      The tapir is one of the indicators of an ecologically diverse ecosystem.
OBJECTIVES

The Tapir Conservation Programme seeks to engage the public and corporate sector in recognising the importance of saving the Malayan tapir, through:
  • Creating awareness about the tapir as part of Malaysia’s amazing biodiversity;
  • Promoting the conservation of wildlife with the tapir as flagship species under the Lend A Hand for Conservation campaign, a platform advocating public involvement in environmental activities; and
  • Providing the opportunity for people to study and understand the ecological and conservation needs of Malaysian wildlife in relation to the Central Forest Spine.
Picture
Distribution of Malayan tapir: Southern Myanmar, Southern Thailand, Peninsular Malaysia, Central Sumatra
ACTIVITIES

The range of activities fall under CEPA (communication, education, participation and awareness), with focus on:
  • Support for school nature clubs (KPA) and camps at MNS centres, road shows and exhibitions and public events with wildlife conservation themes;
  • Public and community involvement in Lend A Hand For Conservation, with the tapir as flagship species and promoting the Central Forest Spine as a wildlife refuge; and
  • Research on the ecological and conservation needs of Malaysian wildlife and the tapir, through student grants as well as the running of workshops, seminars and fora.

have you ever seen a tapir?
Let us know if you have!
MNS is raising funds for our black-and-white friends through its Tapir Paper-Cut Campaign, creating these cute paper figurines for display. The target 1,500 tapirs, signifying the estimated number of individuals left in our forests, is scheduled to be part of a diorama for the Malayan Tapir Conservation Programme at a future date. Participants can name their tapirs, while also getting acknowledged as a Local Environmental Hero.

CONTACT the team for more details.

Black-and-white kind of days

APRIL AND MAY saw the Malaysian Nature Society take part in several events for World Tapir Day, celebrated on April 27 each year, to spread the tale of this two-tone Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) that keeps our forests going.
      As part of its Malayan Tapir Conservation Programme, MNS worked to raise public awareness about this Endangered mammal, highlighting the tale of the shy, poor-sighted, solitary animal as it faces the threats of habitat loss, poaching and human-wildlife conflict, in its role as one of the major seed dispersers for our jungles.
      There are only an estimated 1,200-1,500 Malayan tapirs left in Peninsular Malaysia forests, with records showing that some 35 individuals were killed in road collisions between 2010 and 2015. Thus the urgency for conservation of this animal, before it goes the way of our Malayan tiger into Critically Endangered status.
      From April 9-14, the Malayan tapir was centre stage at the home of campaign partner Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), whose student bodies – Persatuan Mahasiswa and Faculty of Science’s Kelab Mahasiswa Biology – alongside UPM’s Student Affairs Division and MNS, organised the activity-filled Malayan Tapir Festival 2017.
      Aimed at inculcating understanding and increasing awareness and appreciation among university students on Malayan tapir conservation, the six-day festival included lunch-time talks, night cycling, interactive games, tapir merchandise sales and information booths, the last run by MNS and wildlife heroes PERHILITAN (Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia).
       An exciting note was the opening talk by Dr. Carl Traeholt, of the international Tapir Specialist Group, who shared his vast knowledge and experience on tapir conservation efforts around the world, as well as for the Malayan tapir in particular.
       The week’s lunchtime talks, meanwhile, covered a range of Malayan Tapir Conservation Programme issues – UPM’s tapir research, delivered by postgraduate students Ramitha Arumugam and Kalai Alasi; ongoing work by the Malayan tapir research group, by Dr Geetha Annavi; the Malayan tapir as one of Malaysia’s threatened wildlife species, by MNS Head of Conservation Balu Perumal; and MNS’s Malayan tapir roots, by Professor Dr Ahmad Ismail, a former vice-president of MNS.
      At end-April, it was on to public engagement at Taman Botani Negara Shah Alam (Shah Alam National Botanical Park) under the Sayang My Tapir 2.0 event (#sayangmytapir), to inculcate the love of this unique animal among the rakyat, in this case especially targeting primary schoolchildren.
      Involving some 300 pupils from around the area, and an estimated 5,400 visitors over the April 29-30 weekend, the event highlighted that this botanical park in the heart of Selangor was once home to the Malayan tapir, but owing to being hemmed in by development, the animal’s survival was severely at risk. Last year, it was reported that the park’s population of 10 Malayan tapirs since 2005 had winnowed down to only two individuals, which were then planned to be relocated to a safer habitat.
      In May, the black-and-white message was brought to urbanites via the MNS Urban Environmental Education Hub, with the Pak Cipan’s Rainforest exhibit at the Mid Valley Megamall.
      The week-long exhibition, from May 8-14, focused on the essential relationship between the Malayan tapir, its friends and our rainforests, and the threats to all of them, while also raising
awareness, understanding and knowledge of wildlife species through interactive play, such as cookie decorating, face painting and clay-art making.