Malayan Tapir Spotted in Singapore

zooboy28

zooboy28

Well-Known Member
In unexpected news - a Malayan Tapir has been seen in Singapore - the first sighting in 30 years. It is thought to have swum from mainland Malaysia, but I'm not sure what that distance is.

Story & Photo here: Rare sighting of Malayan tapir in Singapore - Nation | The Star Online

SINGAPORE: A Malayan tapir was spotted in Changi Friday morning, in a rare sighting of the endangered animal in the island nation.

The herbivore is known for having a distinctive white patch round its middle, and a black head, shoulders and hind quarters.

In a blurry photo taken by a Lianhe Zaobao reader at about 4.30am on Friday, the tapir was seen trotting alongside a metal fence.

Anbarasi Boopal, deputy chief executive of Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres), said that it received a call about the sighting but the animal was "not in view" by the time they got there.

"We are keeping this case in view and hope that the tapir managed to swim to safety," she told The Straits Times.

As tapirs are not found in Singapore, it is possible that it swam over from southern Johor, said Marcus Chua, Museum Officer for Mammal Biodiversity at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum.

The last sighting of a tapir in Singapore was on Pulau Ubin in 1986.

"It could be looking for new territory or pushed out of habitat because of development," said Chua.

The tapir sighting is "extremely rare for Singapore", he added.

The nocturnal animal is dependent on the rainforest habitat. It feeds mostly on leaves, which it can grab using its prehensile snout.

It can be found in Sumatra, peninsular Malaysia, and Southern Thailand, and is globally endangered, mainly due to habitat loss.

There are only about 1,500 to 2,000 in Malaysia according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

While the tapir looks like a wild boar with a longer snout, it is more closely related to horses and rhinos.
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Very interesting! It looks like the tapir was moving along the boundary fence of Changi Airport in the photo. I'm guessing it did a bit of island hopping, swimming about 2 kilometres from Johor to Singapore's Pulau Tekong island (mostly uninhabited and forested, used by the military), and then another 3 to 4 kilometres from Pulau Tekong to Changi on the mainland. I wonder if it is still here.
 
this article Malayan tapir spotted roaming around in Singapore - Nation | The Star Online says a few different things to the above article, in part:

A Malayan tapir appears to be seeking its 15-minute of fame like Chickaboo the ostrich when it was seen roaming near the coast of Changi in Singapore.

It made the news in Lianhe Zaobao, a Chinese newspaper in the republic, which reported yesterday that the nocturnal animal was seen running alongside a fence at a land reclamation area at around 4.30am on Friday.

When someone called Singapore’s Animal Concerns and Education Society, the animal had already disappeared into the sea.

A reader of Lianhe Zaobao captured the rare sighting on camera and passed the image to the daily.

Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum researcher Marcus Chua Aik Hwee believed the herbivore had swum across the strait from southern Johor to Singapore.

“Tapirs are good swimmers and solitary creatures. This one might have taken a short rest at Tekong Island, or just swam straight to Singapore, I guess,” he told Lianhe Zaobao.

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MNS: Normal for animals to cross to S?pore - Nation | The Star Online
Wild animals in southern Johor are crossing to neighbouring Singapore in search of food and shelter.

Malaysian Nature Society Johor chairman Vincent Chow said the clearing of jungles in the Tanjung Langsat area near Pasir Gudang and Pengerang in Kota Tinggi was the main reason why some of the wildlife had been forced out from their homes and they swam across to Singapore.

“The good news is that they don’t often stay in Singapore for long. After a few days, they cross back to Johor,” Chow said yesterday when he was asked about a Malayan tapir that was seen roaming near the coast of Changi in Singapore.

Lianhe Zaobao, a Singapore newspaper, reported the sighting of the nocturnal animal at about 4.30am on Friday. The image was captured by a reader of the city-state’s Chinese newspaper.

When Singapore’s Animal Con*cerns and Education Society was alerted, the animal had disappeared into the sea.

Chow said rapid development and land reclamation in south Johor had also forced endangered animals to emerge from their habitat.

“Wild animals are sensitive to drastic changes in their natural habitat and instincts will lead them to other places which are similar to their natural habitat,” Chow explained to the media.

Singapore, he added, also reported an increase in the number of hornbills in recent years. The birds flew from Johor to mate and nest in the republic.

He said dugongs from Johor could also be seen around the Che Jawa coastal line in Singapore, which is rich in seagrass – the main diet of the sea cows.

State Wildlife Department director Jamal Nasir Ibrahim said it was normal for wildlife to cross over to Singapore and back to Johor.

“About 20 years ago, an adult elephant swam across the Johor Strait and it was brought back to Johor as requested by the Singapore authorities,” he said.

On the runaway tapir, Jamal believed that it probably thought Singapore was part of its territory.

“It was able to swim with the help of its snout which acted as a snorkel,” he said.

Asked whether the tapir would be returned to Johor if it was captured by the authorities there, he said it was unlikely as the animal was now Singaporean.
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So you think it's a good (and feasible) idea to introduce a population of 300kg+ wild mammals into one of the most densely populated areas on Earth? On the basis of a single stray individual currently appearing there?
 
Batto said:
So you think it's a good (and feasible) idea to introduce a population of 300kg+ wild mammals into one of the most densely populated areas on Earth? On the basis of a single stray individual currently appearing there?
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They used to live in Singapore however, now they have become extinct here, so if several were released into Singapore vast national parks (nearly one third of the island is national park) it would mean there are "backup" populations incase something happens to the ones on Malaysia.
 
animal_expert01 said:
They used to live in Singapore however, now they have become extinct here, so if several were released into Singapore vast national parks (nearly one third of the island is national park) it would mean there are "backup" populations incase something happens to the ones on Malaysia.
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You say 'vast' - the whole country is only half the size of Greater London. ;)
 
The idea for a back-up pop in Singapore ain't outlandish.
However, I would really advocate better protection and law enforcement and effective restrictions on development in coastal Malaysian rainforests to stop the rot of loss of habitat and the need for tapirs and other wildlife to migrate to other areas. Primary focus should be on how to combat clearing of the Tanjung Langsat area near Pasir Gudang and Pengerang in Kota Tinggi! I assume the staff of the Malaysian Nature Society Johor State will be onto this.
 
animal_expert01 said:
They used to live in Singapore however
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Various megafauna species used to live in what are now metropolises; yet no sane person would support the release of wisents in Madrid, grizzly bears in LA or jaguars in Mexico City ..
 
Firstly, Singapore does have a 1/3 part that is protected forest, including around the area of the zoo in Mandai. Secondly, I am not advocating that we should as a first priority. Just read ... "Primary focus ..."!
 
animal_expert01 said:
How bigs is greater London?
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About 1600 sq km - smaller than the ACT, for example. Singapore is about a third the size of the ACT, to use an Aussie comparison. :)
 
Several metropolises have large parks/protected forests within their range-which nevertheless do not qualify as suitable habitats for megafauna. And I was directly addressing animal_expert01's post, as indicated by the quotation.
 
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