SEAVR 2018: 020‐021
ISSN: 2424‐8525
Date of publication: 25 February 2018
Hosted online by ecologyasia.com

Malayan Tapir Tapirus indicus in Hadabuan Hills,
North Sumatra Province, Indonesia
Gregory Edward McCANN
greg.mccann1@ gmail.com

Observer: Gregory Edward McCann (camera trap installer).
Photograph by: Gregory Edward McCann.
Subject identified by: Gregory Edward McCann.
Location: Hadabuan Hills (Rantau Prapat District), North Sumatra Province, Sumatra, Indonesia.
(2° 03.306'N, 99° 36.730'E; WGS 84).
Elevation: 493 metres (based on GPS fix)
Habitat: Mosaic of disturbed forest, semi‐evergreen forest and old growth forest.
Date and time: (i) 10 August 2016, 19:20 hrs. (ii) 13 September 2016, 21:48 hrs. (iii) 14 September 2016, 18:10
hrs. (iv) 15 September 2017, 06:18 hrs.
Identity of subject: Malayan Tapir, Tapirus indicus (Mammalia: Perissodactyla: Tapiridae).
Description of record: Three images of a lone adult Malayan Tapir were initially acquired in semi‐evergreen
forest, close to disturbed forest and agricultural encroachment, during a single trigger event on 10 August 2016,
three weeks after deployment of the camera trap (Fig. 1). Two further images were subsequently acquired inseparate trigger events on 13 September 2016 and 14 September 2016, but these were extreme close‐ups and assuch it cannot be determined if these were the same animal.
On 15 September 2017 a pair of adult Malayan Tapir were recorded at the same camera trap station, however it
is not possible to determine whether these two had been previously photographed as no distinctive markings arevisible in the images.

Fig. 1.

© Gregory Edward McCann20

Remarks: The Hadabuan Hills landscape is a mountain massif located around 50 km to the southeast of Lake
Toba, on the island of Sumatra. This range of hills, which is best described as an unmanaged commons area,
appears to have no legal protection, however a non‐governmental organisation, the Sumatran Tiger Rangers,
attempts to raise grassroots awareness and local protection of the flora and fauna in the area.
Records of the Malayan Tapir have been documented at Batang Toru (Linkie et al, 2013) which lies around 80
kilometers southwest of Hadabuan Hills. To the south of Batang Toru the species is known to occur in Bukit
Tigapuluh National Park (range map in Traeholt et al, 2016), Kerinci Seblat National Park (Holden et al, 2003) andother protected areas.
The current range map in use by the Tapir Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation ofNature (IUCN) (Pedraza, 2008), appears to show that the Hadabuan Hills roughly mark the northernmost limit forthis species on the island of Sumatra. These recent records are consistent with the current known range.
However, tapirs are mentioned as occurring in the Dolok Surungun Wildlife Reserve, which is locatedapproximate 40 kilometers to the northeast of Hadabuan Hills, which would place any extant populations there atthe very northernmost limit of the species’ range. Local people who have been contacted say that approximately
four tapirs still live in the shrinking forests of the Dolok Surungun Wildlife Reserve (Dolok means ‘Mountain’ in theethnic Batak language). Additionally, a video recorded in North Labuhanbatu Regency, which is locatedapproximately 60 km east of Hadabuan Hills, appeared on Facebook showing a Malayan Tapir wandering into avillage and being captured by villagers. This tapir may have either roamed south out of the Dolok Surungun
Wildlife Reserve or it derived from one of several very small patches of native forest amid the oil palm plantationsin that region.
Thus, to the best of our knowledge, our camera trap footage from the Hadabuan Hills confirm one of thenorthernmost populations of this species on Sumatra.
Additional camera trap surveying in another part of the Hadabuan Hills landscape was carried out in July 2017 ata more remote location at 1,300 meters elevation, but the Malayan Tapir was not detected. Conservation efforts
should be directed at the Hadabuan Hills to ensure the survival of this population of Malayan Tapir.
References:
Holden, J., Yanuar, A. & Martyr, D. J. (2003). The Asian tapir in Kerinci Seblat National Park, Sumatra: evidencecollected through photo‐trapping. Oryx, 37(1), 34‐40.
Linkie, M., Guillera‐Arroita, G., Smith, J., Ario, A., Bertagnolio, G., Cheong, F., ... & Gumal, M. T. (2013). Crypticmammals caught on camera: assessing the utility of range wide camera trap data for conserving the endangered
Asian tapir. Biological Conservation, 162, 107‐115.
Nopandry, Bobby. Dolok Surungun Wildlife Reserve Sumatra. Unpublished report.
Pedraza, C. (2008). Range of Malayan Tapir, Tapirus indicus. http://tapirs.org/tapirs/malayan‐tapir (Accessed 13Jan 2018).
Traeholt, C., Novarino, W., bin Saaban, S., Shwe, N.M., Lynam, A., Zainuddin, Z., Simpson, B. & bin Mohd, S.
(2016). Tapirus indicus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. < http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/21472/0>(Accessed 18 February 2018).

21