“Trio under threat: Is there hope for Rhinos, Elephants and Tigers in Malaysia?”
by Reuben Clements, Species Conservation Manager, WWF-Malaysia
Three of Malaysia’s charismatic large mammal species are experiencing diverging fates. Populations of the Sumatran Rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) have been decimated (due to chronic hunting and loss of lowland forests) to an extent where costly management interventions (e.g., combined ex and in situ breeding programmes) are currently being developed to prevent its extinction.
Conversely, populations of the Asian Elephant (Elephas maximus) appear to be stable and even increasing in some areas, but escalating levels of human-elephant conflict (due to land conversion into plantations and dams) will eventually threaten their long-term survival.
The tiger (Panthera tigris), however, is at the crossroads where the National Tiger Action Plan for Malaysia was recently initiated by the federal government to double the current wild population by 2020; this can only happen if their decline (due to illegal hunting of tiger and prey) in important tiger habitats such as selectively logged forests is arrested as soon as possible.
Apart from discussing the abovementioned threats and associated scientific, management and policy challenges, Reuben will highlight recent conservation initiatives (e.g., the Borneo Rhino Sanctuary, Malaysian Conservation Alliance for Tigers) that can help secure the future of these species in Malaysia, as well as other range states within Southeast Asia.”
More about the talk and Reuben Clements on the Biodiverity Crew @ NUS blog.
The talk is free but registration is required. Register at http://tinyurl.com/bejc-19sep2009
Time: 7pm
Venue: Conference Room, Block S3, Level 5 (next to the general office), Department of Biological Sciences,
National University of Singapore.
