Conservation Leadership Programme

projects

	£5,000 Threatened Species Category Awards Malaysia Distribution, relative abundance and commercial trade of Tortoises in Peninsular Malaysia .

Project Leader:Reuben Sharma, Putra University, Malaysia

Project Dates: April - November, 1999

This project will conduct the first ever survey on the distribution, population and ecology of three species of wild tortoises in the forests of the lower slopes of the Titiwangsa mountain range, peninsular Malaysia. The tortoise species (Asian brown Manouria emys, Impressed Manouria impressa and Elongated Indotestudo elongata ) are all threatened by commercial timber harvesting, agricultural conversion and a live pet trade. The team's goal is to assess the viability of remaining tortoise populations and compile an action plan for conservation management measures to ensure the continued existence of the tortoises in the wild. These recommendations will be discussed with the department of wildlife and local governments to decide on site-specific follow-up work.

PROJECT UPDATE October 1999
The team has now completed eleven weeks of fieldwork in three sites; Fraser's Hill Forest Reserve, Cameron Highlands Forest Reserve and Perlis State Park. Searching methodologies have been employed along roads, forest trails and by setting out quadrats deeper in the forests. Any individuals found have been tagged with a radio transmitter and tracked using radio telemetry. This has yielded valuable data on the home range, travel distance, feeding habits and behaviour of the tortoises. In addition, blood samples were taken for haemotology, serum biochemistry and DNA analysis. To date very low numbers (3) of impressed tortoises (Manouria impressa) have been found in Fraser's Hill and Cameron Highlands Reserves, whereas in Perlis State Park six chelonians (namely one Forest Soft-Shell, Dogania subplana, one Leaf Turtle Cyclemys dentata, two Spiny Hill Turtles, Heosemys spinosa and two Elongated Tortoises Indotestudo elongata ) were found in only one week.

To supplement data gathered from observations local people were interviewed at every site and trade surveys conducted.. These efforts have produced very concerning results for the future of the Tortoises. It was very clear that not only had numbers declined dramtically in recent years but also that many Chelonians are being caught by locals and traded at local markets for a price of 10 Ringgit per Kilogrm (e.g. Kampung Raja) or sold to middle men who sell them on in the lowland towns. The trading problem appears to worst at Perlis State Park where it has become a significant income for locals who can earn 15 Ringitt per kilo of live weight when selling to traders who export them to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. One trader in Batu Gajah exports up to 1000 daily.
The field team plan to revisit Perlis state park and ten will conduct their final surveys in Taman-Negara and Endau-Rompin parks. So far six articles have been published in Local newspapers detailing their work.

Malaysian Highland Forest
Credit: Jenny Dalty/FFI

Follow Up

Over a duration of eight months from April 2000 onwards the team of five Malaysian conservationists plan to ensure that tortoise populations in protected areas are afforded proper legal protection and that they are not exploited for commercial (food and pet trade, local and international) purposes. The team plan to achieve this by raising awareness to implementing monitoring programmes amongst: a) selected communities known to exploit tortoises and b) government agencies responsible for wildlife and forest management. Trade regulatory bodies will be equipped with Chelonian identification knowledge to enable them to enforce CITES regulations and the government will be lobbied to include rare tortoise species in the protected animals list of the Protection of Wildlife Act.

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