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Crested Serpent Eagle

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The Crested Serpent Eagle, Spilornis cheela is a bird of prey. Like all eagles, it is in the family Accipitridae.The Crested Serpent Eagle can be found in a large geographical region from South Asia, including India and Sri Lanka, to Southeast Asia, extending to southern China and Indonesia. This forest bird nests in treetops near fresh water. Its nests are constructed with sticks and contain not more than a single egg at a time.The Crested Serpent Eagle is a medium large raptor
at about 55-75cm in length. Adults have dark brown upperparts and head,
and have a hooded appearance at rest. The underparts and underwing
coverts are pale brown. In soaring flight, the broad wings are held in
a shallow V. The tail and underside of the flight feathers
are black with broad white bars. When perched, they appear large headed
and owl-like due to the shape of the face and positioning of the eyes.The call is a distinctive Kluee-wip-wip with the first They call a lot in the late mornings from perches or as they rise on the thermals in the mornings.

Sexes are visually similar, but young birds have a whitish head, underparts and underwing, the latter showing darker barring.

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Blue-eared Kingfisher

The Blue-eared Kingfisher, Alcedo meninting, is found in South and South-east Asia. This is a small kingfisher almost identical to the Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis. The Blue-eared Kingfisher is distinguished from the Common Kingfisher by blue ear coverts, darker and more intense cobalt-blue upperparts with richer rufous under parts.The juvenile Blue-eared Kingfisher has similar rufous ear-coverts like the Common Kingfisher; but it usually shows some mottling on the throat and upper breast which disappears when the bird reaches adulthood.The average length of this kingfisher is 16cm. It is found near pools and streams in dense evergreen forest, situated under 1000m of altitude.

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Saltwater Crocodile Earth’s largest living crocodilian—and, some say, the animal most likely to eat a human—is the saltwater or estuarine crocodile. Average-sized males reach 17 feet (5 meters) and 1,000 pounds (450 kilograms), but specimens 23 feet (7 meters) long and weighing 2,200 pounds (1,000 kilograms) are not uncommon. Saltwater crocs, or "salties," as Australians affectionately refer to them, have an enormous range, populating the brackish and freshwater regions of eastern India, Southeast Asia, and northern Australia. They are excellent swimmers and have often been spotted far out at sea. Classic opportunistic predators, they lurk patiently beneath the surface near water's edge waiting for potential prey to stop for a sip of water. They’ll feed on anything they can get their jaws on, including water buffalo, monkeys, wild boar, and even sharks. Without warning, they explode from the water with a thrash of their powerful tails, grasp their victim, and drag it back in, holding it under until the animal drowns.

Pacific Swallow
Hirundo tahitica
Layang Layang Pasifik (Malay)

Pacific Swallows eat insects, catching them during flight. To feast on swarming insects, they may join other birds like Swifts. But unlike Swifts that simply trawl the air with their mouths open, Swallows don't hunt on the wing. They perch and wait, then actually chase after individual prey and perform aerial acrobatics to catch them. Swallows also hunt at lower levels than Swifts.
Unlike Swifts, Swallows can perch and also come to the ground to drink or gather nesting material.Pacific Swallows are found everywhere, but usually near water and open country. In Singapore, they are particularly common along the coasts, and also found in mangroves.Migration? Pacific Swallows are resident. They are never found in such huge flocks as the visiting Barn Swallows, which they closely resemble.Although they may feed together with Barn Swallows, they don't join the Barn Swallows huge roosts.Breeding: Resident Pacific Swallows nest on vertical surfaces with overhangs to protect their mud nest (which would disintegrate in the rain). These may be cliffs with an overhang but are often bridges, dams and other man-made structures. But they shy away from humans and prefer unoccupied buildings. They build solid nests out of mud pellets brought by the beakful from puddles and river banks. Combined with dry grasses, these pellets are arranged much like bricks to form shallow cups. These may be lined with dry grass and feathers. At a particularly suitable nest site, they may form large colonies. Usually 3 white eggs are laid. These are long and pointed and have brown spots.

Storm's Stork (Ciconia stormi)
Family: CICONIIDAE
A small, worldwide family of very large birds with long powerful beaks. They have long legs, broad wings, and short tails. They feed mostly on fish or small animals, which they catch while stalking quietly in open wet areas.

Storks are strong fliers and several species migrate over large distances. They are experts at soaring on thermals and often circle high in the sky, gaining height for easy travel, or searching for likely feeding places.

There are four resident species in the Greater Sundas and three doubtful vagrants.

Description: Large (80 cm) black and white stork with slightly upturned, red bill. Wings, back, crown, and breast black; throat, nape, belly, and tail white. Bare facial skin pinkish red, especially in breeding season. Bare eye-ring is yellow. Distinguished from Woolly-necked Stork by black side of neck, yellow eye-ring, lack of white forehead, and redder bill, but note Javan form of Woolly-necked Stork also has reddish bill and reaches S Sumatra. Immature has black plumage replaced by brown.
Iris-red; bill-red; legs and feet-pink.

Voice: Bill clapping.

Range: Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, and Borneo.

Distribution and status: Sparsely distributed in freshwater swamp and swamp forests in lowlands of Sumatra (including Mentawai) and Borneo. One record from W Java in 1920 (specimen in Bogor museum).

Habits: Frequents dense swamp forests and nests in colonies.

Mangrove Snake
(Bioga dendrophila melanota)
Mildly venomous










This handsome snake occurs mainly in lowland jungles and mangrove swamps. Its bluish-black body is marked by 40 to 50 narrow, yellow crossbars. Various sub-species have been recorded and the one described here is found in Malaysia and east Sumatra.Its colour pattern is reminiscent of that of the deadly venomous Banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus), though in the latter, the black and yellow bands are of more or less equal width.The Mangrove Snake rests coiled up among the branches which span over streams or rivers and becomes active at dusk when it hunts for birds and eggs as well as rodents. Its usually docile nature makes it a favorite among snake charmers. However, when provoked, it will bite with little warning. About 4 to 15 eggs are laid per clutch, and the incubation period is about 3 months. One captive Mangrove Snake was recorded to deposit 3 clutches totaling 25 eggs over a 12-month period. Newly hatched Mangrove Snake are about 340 mm long and resemble the adult in coloration, except for the pinkish or orange rings on the hatchlings' tails. When mature, the Mangrove Snake reaches length of about 2.5 m.

Asian Glossy Starling
Aplonis panayensis
Glossy Tree/Philippines Glossy/Red-eyed Starling,
Perling/Perling Mata Merah (Malay)

Asian Glossy Starlings eat mainly soft fruits (papaya, banana, mangos) and berries, and sometimes insects. They are particularly fond of figs.

Slim bodied birds with narrow wings, they fly rapidly and may travel long distances to fruiting trees. They forage high in the tree tops and only occasionally land on the ground, usually to eat fallen fruit. On the ground, they walk rather than hop, and do so awkwardly.

Like others in their family, Asian Glossy Starlings are highly gregarious. They feed and roost in flocks of about 20. The flocks are compact and move quickly. Before settling down, they often perform displays over their roosting tree; wheeling in impressive twists and forming symmetrical patterns. It is believed that this helps the flocks identify the location of the roost.
Like their relatives the Mynas, the Asian Glossy Starling can also mimic the calls of other birds. In bright sunlight, their glossy plumage has an iridescent shine, changing to green, purple or black as they move about.

Breeding: Asian Glossy Starlings breed year round, with a peak in March-June. These gregarious birds nest in colonies preferring sheltered places high above the ground. Mainly tree holes (including holes made by woodpeckers) but also the crowns of palm trees, thickets of epiphytic ferns growing on trees, and even under the eaves of a house or other man-made structures. When a hole is used, only a bit of grass might be added. Otherwise, the nest is more elaborate, made of grass, waste paper and other rubbish. 3 blue eggs with dark brown spots are laid.

Migration? Asian Glossy Starlings don't migrate but migrating Purple-backed (Sturnus sturnius) and White-shouldered (S. sinensis) Starlings sometimes join Asian Glossy Starling flocks during the migration period.

Status and threats: Asian Glossy Starling are not at risk as they have adapted well to human habitation and large flocks can even be found in urban areas. They prosper in cultivated areas including gardens and parks. They are often considered a pest on fruit plantations.

Rafflesia pricei

Rafflesia Pricei

Distribution

• Lowland forests in Malaysia. In Sabah and Sarawak, also reported from highland areas
• Seven out of fifteen species worldwide of Rafflesia can be found in Malaysia.

• R.cantleyi and R.kerrii are found in Peninsular Malaysia whereas R.arnoldii, R. pricei, R. keithii, R. tuan-mudae and R. tengku-adlinii in Sarawak and Sabah. R.kerrii, R. keithi, R. tuan-mudae and R. tengku-adlinii are endemic to Malaysia.

Description

• The world’s largest flower weighing about 9 kg and almost 1 meter wide
• Totally dependent on one particular vine called Tetrastigma (related to the grapevine)
• The Rafflesia is a disembodied flower. A rootless, leafless and stemless parasite, it drains nourishment and gains physical support from its host vine. Its only body outside the flower consists of strands of fungus-like tissue that grow inside the Tetrastigma vine. It first manifests itself as a tiny bud on the vine's stem.
• Over a period of 12 months, it swells to a cabbage-like head that bursts around midnight under the cover of a rainy night to reveal this startling, lurid-red flower. Beauty turns beastly in only a few days. The Rafflesia only flowers for 5 to 6 days, before the petals blacken and the flower withers. The "flowering beast" begins to smell like rotting meat, attracting blue bottle flies for pollination.

Threats

• Most species are highly localised and are therefore vulnerable to extinction because of habitat disturbance and host cutting from activities such as land clearing, logging, and ethnobotanical collecting. The first two activities are important in threatening the Bornean species, while in the peninsular over-collecting by local people who sell the buds for medicine is apparently the greatest threat.

Conservation

· Because of its rarity, knowledge of the biology and ecology of Rafflesia has been slow to accumulate. Even today, little is known about its reproductive biology and distribution, which in itself poses many problems for its conservation.

· As Rafflesia is found in only a handful of localities, its long-term survival is now seriously threatenend by the depletion of the Malaysian rainforest.

· Recent successes from Sabah have indicated that Rafflesia can be artificially grown on host plant!

· Several areas where the Rafflesia spp. are protected includes Kinabalu Park and Crocker Range Park in Sabah and Gunung Gading National Park in Sarawak. To a certain degree, it maybe protected within Taman Negara but the species is certainly found in the Proposed Ulu Muda and Belum Conservation Areas in Peninsular Malaysia

Borneo Elephant

The Borneo Elephant or Borneo Pygmy Elephant Elephas maximus borneensis is a subspecies of the Asian Elephant and found in north Borneo (east Sabah and extreme north Kalimantan).

The origin of Borneo elephants was controversial. Two competing hypotheses argued that they are either indigenous, or were introduced, descending from elephants imported in the 16th–18th centuries. In 2003, mitochondrial DNA research has discovered that its ancestors separated from the mainland population during the Pleistocene, about 300,000 years ago. The Borneo elephant became isolated from other Asian elephant populations when land bridges that linked Borneo with the other Sunda Islands and the mainland disappeared after the Last Glacial Maximum, 18,000 years ago.
Since the Borneo elephant became isolated it has become smaller with relatively larger ears, longer tails, and relatively straight tusks. It is smaller than all the other subspecies of the Asian elephant. The Borneo elephant is also remarkably tame and passive, one reason scientists had thought it was descended from a domestic collection.
Wild Asian elephant populations are disappearing as expanding human development disrupts their migration routes, depletes their food sources, and destroys their habitat. Recognizing these elephants as native to Borneo makes their conservation a high priority and gives biologists important clues about how to manage them.In Aug 2007 it was reported that there are probably not more than 1,000 pygmy elephants left in Sabah, after a 2 year study by WWF.

Indochinese Tiger - Panthera tigris corbetti

The Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) is more commonly known as the Indochinese, or Malayan tiger, and was recognized as a subspecies as recently as 1968 from a tiger discovered in the vicinity of a coastal town in Central Vietnam. Corbetti is a smaller, darker, and less boldly striped tiger than the Bengal subspecies found in India. Males can reach a length of 9 feet and may obtain weights in excess of 400 pounds. Female Indochinese Tigers like other female tiger subspecies, are smaller then their male counterparts. Females achieve a head to tail length of eight feet and weigh approximately 250 pounds.
The Indochinese Tiger (Panthera tigris corbetti) is more commonly known as the Indochinese, or Malayan tiger, and was recognized as a subspecies as recently as 1968 from a tiger discovered in the vicinity of a coastal town in Central Vietnam. Corbetti is a smaller, darker, and less boldly striped tiger than the Bengal subspecies found in India. Males can reach a length of 9 feet and may obtain weights in excess of 400 pounds. Female Indochinese Tigers like other female tiger subspecies, are smaller then their male counterparts. Females achieve a head to tail length of eight feet and weigh approximately 250 pounds.
The largest wild populations of Indochinese Tigers now live in Thailand. They also inhabit southern China, Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. Within this range, corbetti inhabits the remote forests hills and mountainous terrain of the region. Much of this terrain lies between the borders of multiple countries with extremely limited access. Due to the restricted status of these areas, biologists have only recently been granted permits to study this rare feline in the field. As a result, very little is known about the status of this subspecies and its behaviors in the wild.
The Indochinese tiger needs protection in order to survive and continued implementation of sound conservation efforts to save the species from becoming extinct in the wild. Let us all hope that the various captive management programs are successful in their attempts to save this unique subspecies of tiger. Without human intervention and global protection, the Indochinese Tiger will surely become extinct.
Scientific Name: Panthera tigris corbetti
Range: Southern China, Myanmar (Burma), Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam.
Average Weight:
Female: 100kg - 130kg (221 - 287 pounds)
Male: 150kg - 195kg (330- 430 pounds)
Size (Length):
Female: 2.31m-2.64m (7'-7"- 8'-8")
Male: 2.57m-2.84m (8-5"- 9'-4")
Diet: All tigers are carnivorous. Indochinese tiger's prey consists mostly of antelope, wild boar, wild pigs, and a variety of other hooved mammals indigenous to their territory areas.
Gestation Period: 100-119 Days (Averaging 103 Days)
Cub Maturity: 18 months - 2 Years
Cubs Per Litter: (Usually 2-3 cubs) Cubs are born blind and weigh 2-3 pounds. 18-26 month intervals.
Lifespan: 14-16 Years
Predators: Man
Social Structure: Solitary, except during mating season. Male territory may sometimes overlap.
Territory Size: 257km (160 miles)
Population (Wild): 1,000 - 1,800
Captive (SSP): 50-70 in Zoos worldwide
Conservation Status: CITES Appendix 1. (All wildcats are listed on CITES Appendix I or II).

Orang Utan

Pongo Pygmaeus

Once found throughout Southeast Asia, this species of ape now survives only in small populations across the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The Orang utan is the largest tree dwelling mammal.

A dominant male ranges over a large territory mating with several females who give birth to a single offspring, weighting about 4 lbs every three to six years. The gestation period for the orang utan is 233 - 265 days. A mother spends years rearing the infant, and may have only two or three in a lifetime which undoubtedly adds to their diminishing numbers.

The male orang utan grows to around 5ft tall and can weigh up to 200 pounds. Females however only reach half that size. Orang utans reach maturity at 7 - 10 years of age and can live in the wild up to 40 years old.

The orang utan is almost completely arboreal (tree-dwelling), which is why it is found in the lowland forests of Borneo and Sumatra. They have no tails and therefore cannot jump. They navigate round the canopy by climbing and swinging from tree to tree.

They are highly intelligent animals and possess great strength, their strong hands and feet, which can grip like hands, are supremely adapted to life in the trees. Using their long arms, which span between 7-8ft across, they gracefully swing through the forest canopy.

These apes make a fresh nest in the crown of a tree every night and rarely come to the ground to drink – drinking instead the water that collects in tree holes.

Wreathed Hornbill (Aceros undulatus)

Wreathed Hornbill (Aceros undulatus)
Family: BUCEROTIDAE
Hornbills are large, black or brown, and white, mainly arboreal birds, with long, heavy bills. Many species have large protuberant casques on top of the bill which may be gaudily coloured. Hornbills are found throughout Africa and tropical Asia, and throughout Indonesia to New Guinea. They eat fruit and insects and have harsh, penetrating calls.

The nesting habits of the family are interesting. The incubating females are usually sealed into tree hole nests with mud, leaving only a small aperture through which food can be passed by the male. When the young are hatched the female breaks out but reseals the nest entrance again until the young are ready to leave. Ten species of hornbill occur in Sumatra, eight in Borneo, but only three are found in Java.

Description: Large (100cm) white-tailed hornbill. Both sexes have black back, wings, and belly, but male has creamy head with reddish plume from the nape, and naked yellow gular pouch with a distinct black stripe. Female has black head and neck, and blue gular pouch.
Iris-red; bill-yellow with small corrugated casque; feet-black.

Voice: A repeated, short, hoarse, dog-like double yelp koe-guk.

Range: E India, SW China, SE Asia, Malay Peninsula, Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.

Distribution and status: In Borneo and Sumatra this is a fairly common bird of lowland and hill forest, up to 2000 m. In Java and Bali it is rather local.

Habits: Flies in pairs or small flocks over the forest with heavy wing-beats, seeking fruiting trees. Often mixes at feeding trees with other hornbills.

Malayan Sun Bear

VANISHING IN THE WILD: MALAYAN SUN BEAR

The smallest bear in the world, an adult male Malayan sun bear is about 4 feet (1.2 m) tall when standing on its hind legs and can weigh up to 140 pounds (64 kg). Despite their small size, sun bears can be very dangerous.

Species Description and Natural History

Named for the golden crescent, or "U" shaped golden patch on their chest, sun bears are otherwise all black with smooth, short fur. They are increasingly rare residents of tropical rain forest in southern China, Burma, Malaysia, Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Borneo.

Malayan sun bears are skillful climbers, aided by long sickle-shaped claws on all four feet. These extremely long claws -- up to six inches -- allow the bears to dig for honey and grubs, which they lick up using their long tongues. The bears are omnivores. Their diet also includes fruits, insects, small mammals, and birds. Sun bears sometimes will damage coconut palm, banana, and cocoa plantations through foraging. They usually are nocturnal creatures. Smell is the sun bear's most important sense and their eyesight is not very good.

Causes of Endangerment

Many bear species suffer from excessive killing and dramatic habitat loss worldwide. There are eight species of bears in the world: Malayan sun bear, Asiatic black bear, spectacled bear, American black bear, giant panda, sloth bear, polar bear, and brown bear. The northern brown bears have been eliminated from half their former range. Certain Asian bear species are struggling to survive with 75 percent of their former habitat gone. Even the polar bear, seemingly isolated in the Arctic, may be threatened by pollutants in the food chain and proposed oil development in denning areas.

Habitat Loss

The majority of the Malayan sun bear's forest habitat has been destroyed by logging and conversion to agriculture. In addition to leveling the forest, logging roads create convenient access for poachers. As natural food sources disappear, sun bears are driven by hunger to forage for food on farms and plantations, where they are shot or trapped by angry farmers.

Overexploitation

The demand for bear products is the greatest threat to all bears. Traditional Asian medicine prescribes bear fat, gall, meat, paws, spinal cord, blood, and bones for complaints ranging from baldness to rheumatism. Bear entrees are popular in restaurants, and sun bear paws are favored in Taiwan for soup. The trade in bear gall in particular is so highly profitable that it has been likened to the heroin trade, as dried gall can sell for 18 times the price of gold.

In addition, Malayan people often keep sun bears as pets. The mother bears are killed in order to obtain cubs young enough to tame.

Conservation Actions

Trade Regulation Although many countries have banned trade in bear products, the governments of South Korea and Taiwan, home to some of the most devoted consumers of bear products, are not parties to CITES. The belief in the medicinal properties of bear products is so firmly rooted in some cultures it is virtually impossible to change. A more concentrated and effective synthetic version of one ingredient of bear gall is widely available and less expensive, but its availability has not reduced the demand for bear gall.

Mantanani Island,SABAH

Pulau Mantanani is a group of three isolated islands northwest of Kota Belud, 80 km north of Kota Kinabalu. It was so isolated in fact that not until recently, only a few locals knew the existence of the islands.
But most popular attraction of Pulau Mantanani are the dugongs (sea cows). Here you can swim with them. The island is virtually unknown to most people, although the indigenous Ubian fishing tribe here have for years sighted dugongs.
The sheltered bays around the Mantanani Islands seem to provide the ideal habitats for dugongs. Sea grass beds are found on shallow sandy areas within the encircling fringing reef of the islands. A small human population has caused minimum pollution and there is little noisy boat traffic.
Near Mantanani Islands many local fishermen have seen dugongs for as long as they can remember, although the sightings are less frequent in recent times. Fortunately, the local people are not used eating dugongs.

The dugong (Dugong dugon) is endangered by hunting (men and sharks) and by destruction of its natural habitat.

In many regions worldwide dugongs are facing the threat of extinction, and it is likely that this is also the case in Sabah.
In the World Conservation Union Red Data book dugongs are listed as "vulnerable to extinction" and the international trade in dugong artefacts has been prohibited in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
The most famous dugong is Nicky, a young male dugong who frequents the warm tropical waters around the Mantanani Islands. Nicky gets his name from the small cut or "nick" in his left tail fluke, and this is the way you can recognize him. He is a juvenile male of about 2 meters (6.5 feet) in length - he still has much growing to reach maturity (mature dugongs are up to 3 meters or 10 feet long).
Usually you can see Nicky alone, although there are other dugongs in the vicinity. Sometimes you can see a mother and her calf.