o_19ko2dt161ng2j4e1tgnoqv1s45a.pdf

G.W.H. DAVISON & ZUBAID AKBAR (2007)
Aquatic mammals (cetaceans, dugong) are very poorly known, from every aspect of their
biology. A small research group has been established in Universiti Malaysia Sabah.
The only reasonably detailed distribution maps for mammals in Peninsular Malaysia are for
primates (compiled and summarized by Marsh & Wilson 1981), and in Sabah for a selection
of larger mammals (Davies & Payne 1982). A database of distribution records, which must
have a high degree of taxonomic reliability, would be an important aim.
There are sometimes differences in the presence/absence of species between sites, even in
contiguous forests a few kilometers apart, in apparently homogenous habitat. The ecological
requirements of mammals are not sufficiently known to be sure of the reasons. They need
study.
Rates of food intake, energetics, and even the diets of most Peninsular Malaysian mammals
are very poorly known (e.g., the proportion of different prey species in the diet of predators,
or of food-plants in the diet of herbivores).
Various species have been labelled as pollinators, seed dispersers or seed predators, or as
destroyers of seedlings, but the detailed information base for this is limited primarily to
squirrels (e.g., Payne 1979), primates (e.g., Chivers 1980) and bats (e.g., Hodgkison et al.
2003); hence the relevance of wildlife to land management practices such as forestry is hard
to demonstrate.
Breeding seasonality, reproductive rates, survival rates and lifespan are poorly studied and
documented, and unknown for many species of wildlife.
Not a single formalized, mathematical model for a Population and Habitat Viability Analysis
exists for any Peninsular Malaysian animal (although the Peninsular Malaysian component
of the populations of some species such as Asian elephant, Sumatran rhino, and tiger have
been considered in less mathematically rigorous viability assessments, resulting in species
action plans). One detailed study exists for one population of orangutans in Sabah (Goossens
et al. 2005).
Virtually no information is available on the population densities of even common species
such as mousedeer and wild pigs (but see Diong 1973 and Ickes 2001).
Thus, the biological basis for advising on the management of wildlife is extremely sketchy.
Advice often has to rely on extrapolating from the same or similar species in other countries,
common sense and guesswork.
INTERNATIONAL, REGIONAL OR NATIONAL
PROJECTS THAT CAN HELP
Various cooperative ventures exist, in which Malaysia already participates, or could participate,
to enhance knowledge of the diversity of mammals.
There are examples related to particular groups of mammals, such as bats. The Malaysian
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