West Malaysia Trip Report

I went to West Malaysia for in August/September, spending a week at Fraser’s Hill and ten days at Taman Negara (the Mutiara Resort). I spent most of my time looking for birds, but mammals were also a high priority for me. My photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tremarctos/.

Here’s my species list:

1. Common Treeshrew – several seen at Taman Negara and Fraser’s Hill.

2. Sunda Colugo – two seen at Durian Chalets and one around the resort at Taman Negara.

3. Sunda Slow Loris – one seen next to Puncak Inn at Fraser’s Hill, two more at the Mutiara resort.

4. White-thighed Langur – common at Fraser’s Hill

5. Dusky Langur – several observations at Taman Negara.

6. Long-tailed Macaque – seen often around the resort at Taman Negara, and at the Gap.

7. Southern Pig-tailed Macaque – one group seen on the road from the airport to the Gap.

8. White-handed Gibbon – commonly heard at Taman Negara, seen once. Very shy because of hunting.

9. Siamang – heard only at Fraser’s Hill and Taman Negara. Apparently quite easy to see if you spend enough time walking the Old Road at Fraser’s Hill – I spent too much time looking for Mountain Peacock Pheasant on the Pine Tree Trail instead and dipped. The only time they were fairly close was when I was looking for Marbled Wren-babbler, which I went for instead (and saw!).

10. Malay Civet – one came in to rice put outside of the Kumbang Hide.

11. Palm Civet sp – I saw several dark Palm Civets at Fraser’s Hill (and one at Taman Negara) that were either Masked Palm Civet or Small-toothed Palm Civet, but I didn’t get a good enough look to make a conclusive identification. I’m 90% sure that I saw both (one animal had a longer tail than the others, making it a Small-toothed Palm Civet), but that isn’t good enough in my book.

12. Eurasian Wild Pig – a few seen at Taman Negara on the Blau and Tahan trails.

13. Lesser Mousedeer – one seen from the boardwalk behind the resort at Taman Negara.

14. Sambar – a few seen from the Tahan Hide at night.

15. Gaur -a group of five came into the Kumbang Hide one night. Apparently quite rare at Taman Negara.

16. Black Giant Squirrel – heard only a couple times near the Kumbang Hide.

17. Cream-colored Giant Squirrel – one seen on the Tahan Trail.

18. Prevost’s Squirrel – a few sightings near the Kumbang and Blau Hides.

19. Plantain Squirrel – fairly common at forest edge in Taman Negara.

20. Sunda Black-banded Squirrel – fairly common inside forest in Taman Negara.

21. Gray-bellied Squirrel – common at Fraser’s Hill and at the resort at Taman Negara.

22. Pallas’s Squirrel – one seen near the beginning of the Pine Tree Trail at Taman Negara.

23. Western Striped Squirrel – common at Fraser’s Hill.

24. Slender Squirrel – common at Taman Negara and Fraser’s Hill.

25. Horse-tailed Squirrel – one seen near Kumbang Hide.

26. Shrew-faced Ground-squirrel – at least three seen around the base of the Tahan Hide, chasing each other noisily.

27. Spotted (Lesser) Giant Flying Squirrel – at least one seen spotlighting on the Waterfall Road at Fraser’s Hill. Two more squirrels seen on the Old Road were probably this species. It’s surprisingly easy to string this as Red Giant Flying Squirrel.

28. Sundaic Arboreal Niniventer – one seen at night inside the Kumbang Hide.

I dipped Tapir at the Kumbang Hide despite spending three nights there. The first night, a herd of Gaur came in. Nothing came in for the other two nights, but I heard a loud growling noise that could have been a Tiger (and would explain the lack of mammals at the clay lick). I’ll have to come back for it, but I need to do so anyway to climb Gunung Tahan for Crested Argus.

Other information: A couple reported seeing Yellow-throated Marten along the Telekom Loop at Fraser’s Hill. A taxi driver told me he had seen a “goat” twice driving up and down to Fraser’s Hill – presumably Sumatran Serow. He had also seen Leopard Cat a few times.

The large mammals hanging around the resort (i.e. the Tapir and the Muntjac) are pets, not wild animals.

Ben