Small carnivore records from a threatened habitat linkage in Terenganu, Peninsula Malaysia

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Hedges, L.;Clements, G.R.;Aziz, S.A.;Yap, W.;Laurance, S.;Goosem, M.;Laurance, W.F.
Susan LauranceWilliam Laurance
Abstract

Habitat loss and fragmentation are a key threat to the survival of several small carnivore species in Southeast Asia. Enhancing habitat connectivity is therefore an important conservation strategy. In Peninsular Malaysia, the government plans to connect its fragmented forests via 17 habitat linkages to form a large contiguous forest complex known as the Central Forest Spine. Small carnivore species composition in these linkages remains poorly documented. Of the 12 species detected in and around Linkage 7, in the state of Terengganu, four are categorised as Vulnerable by The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Binturong Arctictis binturong, Banded Civet Hemigalus derbyanus, Oriental Small-clawed Otter Aonyx cinereus and Smooth-coated Otter Lutrogale perspicillata. A photograph of Crab-eating Mongoose Herpestes urva with young is the first record of this species from Terengganu, extending eastwards its known distribution in Peninsular Malaysia. Forests in and around this linkage are threatened by disturbance associated with an existing road, and the construction of a nearby dam. The study area’s relatively high recorded small carnivore species richness, and its complement of globally threatened small carnivore species, supports its inclusion into a proposed protected area (known as the Kenyir Wildlife Corridor). Information on small carnivores in other linkages warrants publication, especially from camera-trap surveys that consciously account for microhabitat use and behavioural variation between different species. This would allow a clearer understanding of small carnivore communities in Peninsular Malaysia.

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49

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1019-5041

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6

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International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources

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