The document discusses endangered animals found in Malaysia. It provides background on Malaysia's geography, climate, and biodiversity. It then lists several endangered species in Malaysia, describing each one's physical characteristics and threats faced. These endangered animals include the Black Shrew, Malayan Tiger, Malayan Tapir, Orangutan, Borneo Pygmy Elephant, Sumatran Rhinoceros, Proboscis Monkey, Sunda Pangolin, Mouse Deer, Sumatran Tiger, Leatherback Turtle, Bala Shark, and others. Habitat loss from deforestation and development as well as poaching are major threats driving many Malaysian species toward extinction.

1. ENDANGERED ANIMALS
IN MALAYSIA

2. MALAYSIA
• Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional
monarchy consists of 13 states and three federal territories,
separated by the South China Sea into two similarly sized
regions, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia (Malaysian
Borneo). Peninsular Malaysia shares a land and maritime border
with Thailand and maritime borders with Singapore, Vietnam,
and Indonesia. East Malaysia shares land and maritime borders
with Brunei and Indonesia and a maritime border with
the Philippines and Vietnam. Kuala Lumpur is the national capital
and largest city while Putrajaya is the seat of federal government.
With a population of over 30 million, Malaysia is the world's 44th
most populous country. The southernmost point of
continental Eurasia, Tanjung Piai, is in Malaysia. In the tropics,
Malaysia is one of 17 megadiverse countries, with large numbers
of endemic species.

3. FLORA AND FAUNA OF MALAYSIA
• About 70% of Malaysia consists of tropical rain forest.
In Peninsular Malaysia, camphor, ebony, sandalwood, teak, and many
varieties of palm trees abound. Rain forest fauna includes seladang , deer,
wild pigs, tree shrews, honey bears, forest cats, civets, monkeys, crocodiles,
lizards, and snakes. The seladang weighs about a ton and is the largest
wild ox in the world. An immense variety of insects, particularly
butterflies, and some 508 breeding species of birds are found.
On Sabah and Sarawak, lowland forests contain some 400 species of tall
dipterocarps (hardwoods) and semihardwoods; fig trees abound,
attracting small mammals and birds; and groves are formed by the
extensive aerial roots of warangen (a sacred tree to indigenous peoples).
As altitude increases, herbaceous plants— buttercups, violets, and
valerian—become more numerous, until moss-covered evergreen forests
are reached from 1,520 to 1,830 m (5,000–6,000 ft). Butterflies,
brilliantly colored birds of paradise, and a great wealth of other insect and
bird species inhabit the two states.

5. ENDANGERED ANIMALS IN MALAYSIA
• In the last few decades, Malaysia's virgin rainforests have been
diminished and replaced by rubber and oil palm plantations as
well as settlement schemes. The forests have also been extensively
logged. Destruction of the forests and of geological formations,
coupled with environmental pollution, are slowly decimating
Malaysia's rich natural heritage. In particular, the survival of many
of Malaysia's wildlife species is threatened. Legal hunting and illicit
poaching of wildlife for sport and commerce, the demands on
wildlife for scientific and medical research, the widespread use of
pesticides and herbicides, and the needs of zoos as well as the pet
trade are all taking further toll on the wildlife of Malaysia. The
commercial demands for animal products—skin and fur for
clothes, and meat for its purported therapeutic and aphrodisiac
values—also threaten the survival and existence of many species.
Some endangered animals in Malaysia are as follow :-

6. Black Shrew
• The Black Shrew (Suncus ater) is a white-toothed shrew only
known from Mount Kinabalu in the Malaysian state
of Sabah on the island of Borneo. It is listed as a critically
endangered species due to habitat loss and a restricted range.
It is the smallest shrew of its kind and lives in parts of middle
asia.Black Shrew has rarely been seen by human and there is
no official record on its size. However, witnesses have
estimated the size to be 20 - 100 mm. One recorded
specimen was found in Mount Kinabalu in Sabah, Malaysia.
Nobody knows whether this creature has extinct or still
occupy a small area in the Sabah state of Malaysia. They tend
to be aggressive towards each others and are mostly solitary
creatures.

8. Malayan Tiger
• The Malayan tiger (Panthera tigris) is
a tiger population in Peninsular Malaysia. This
population inhabits the southern and central parts of
the Malay Peninsula, and has been classified
as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List in
2015. The population was roughly estimated at 250
to 340 adult individuals in 2013, and likely
comprises less than 200 mature breeding
individuals and has a declining trend.

10. Malayan Tapir
• It is also the only surviving old world species. It is characterised by its
long, fleshy, prehensile nose and distinctive black and white colouration
which apparently breaks up the outline of the body in the gloom of the
forests in which it lives. Tapirs are perissodactyls .a group of herbivores
that also includes rhinos and horses – it was a previously a very diverse
and numerous group. The origins of Tapiridae can be traced back at least
fifty million years, and they have changed little in body plan for 35
million years. Formerly ranging across Southeast Asia, the tapir today
exists as a series of isolated populations, the largest of which are in
Malaysia. Habitat destruction, especially through deforestation for
agricultural purposes, or flooding caused by the damming of rivers for
hydroelectric purposes, is largely responsible for historical decline of this
species and continues to be the main threat today. Hunting, a relatively
minor threat in the past, is also becoming more of a concern; as other
preferred prey species are becoming more depleted, hunters are
increasingly looking towards tapirs as a food source

12. Orangutan
• The name orangutan means "man of the forest" in the Malay
language. In the lowland forests in which they reside,
orangutans live solitary existences. They feast on wild fruits
like lychees, mangosteens, and figs, and slurp water from
holes in trees. They make nests in trees of vegetation to sleep
at night and rest during the day. Adult male orangutans can
weigh up to 200 pounds. Flanged males have prominent
cheek pads called flanges and a throat sac used to make loud
verbalizations called long calls. An unflanged male looks like
an adult female. In a biological phenomenon unique among
primates, an unflanged male can change to a flanged male
for reasons that are not yet fully understood.

14. Borneo Pygmy Elephant
• The smallest in size of Asian elephant subspecies, the pygmy
elephants of Borneo are baby-faced with oversized ears,
plump bellies and tails so long they sometimes drag on the
ground as they walk. They are also more gentle-natured than
their Asian elephant counterparts.Once believed to be
remnants of a domesticated herd given to the Sultan of Sulu
in the 17th century, pygmy elephants were determined by
WWF to be genetically different from other Asian elephants.
DNA evidence proved these elephants were isolated about
300,000 years ago from their cousins on mainland Asia and
Sumatra. Over time, they became smaller with relatively
larger ears, longer tails and straighter tusks. Today, the
pygmy elephants of Borneo are the smallest elephants in Asia.

16. Sumatran Rhinoceros
• Sumatran rhinos are the smallest of the living rhinoceroses
and the only Asian rhino with two horns. They are covered
with long hair and are more closely related to the extinct
woolly rhinos than any of the other rhino species alive today.
Calves are born with a dense covering that turns reddish
brown in young adults and becomes sparse, bristly and
almost black in older animals. Sumatran rhinos compete with
the Javan rhino for the unenviable title of most threatened
rhino species. While surviving in greater numbers than the
Javan rhino, Sumatran rhinos are more threatened by
poaching. There is no indication that the population is stable
and just two captive females have reproduced in the last 15
years.

18. Proboscis Monkey
• The Proboscis Monkey is also called the Monyet Belanda
Monkey, which means the long nosed Monkey. It belongs to
the Old World classification. In the Egyptian Culture they
were worshipped as a very unique animal and believed to be
special to the gods.The long nose if this Monkey is a very
distinct feature that separates it from all other species. In fact,
when people first noticed it they didn’t even think it was a
Monkey due to the look of it. The males have a nose that is
even larger than that of the females. It is believed that a
larger nose is going to attract females. The nose can be up to
7 inches long.The males can be up to 56 pounds with the
females barely about 20. This difference is larger than with
any other primates in terms of their size. They have a reddish
brown coloring and the limbs are gray in color. These
Monkeys have a very large stomach too.

20. Sunda Pangolin
These solitary, primarily nocturnal animals, are
easily recognized by their full armor of scales. A
startled pangolin will cover its head with its front
legs, exposing its scales to any potential predator. If
touched or grabbed it will roll up completely into a
ball, while the sharp scales on the tail can be used to
lash out . Also called scaly anteaters because of their
preferred diet, pangolins are increasingly victims of
illegal wildlife crime—mainly in Asia and in
growing amounts in Africa—for their meat and
scales.

22. MOUSE DEER
• The mouse deer, or chevrotain, is an incredibly fascinating species
and one which science doesn’t yet fully understand. Despite its
name, the mouse deer is not a member of either rodent or deer
families. In fact, the only link that the mouse deer has to similar-
looking animals is that it is an ungulate (hoofed animal), along
with mammals such as camels, giraffes, and Khao Sok’s own wild
boars and gaur. There are 1o living subspecies of mouse deer
which fall under the family Tragulidae. Historically the
terms mouse deer and chevrotain were used interchangeably when
discussing these animals, but they are now often used to describe
the different groups of subspecies. The Moschiola genus of mouse
deer has a spotted coat, while the Tragulus genus of mouse deer
don’t. To make this distinction easier the spotted Moschiola
subspecies are referred to as chevrotains, and the plain-coated
Tragulus subspecies, mouse deer.

24. SUMATRAN TIGER
• Sumatran tigers are the smallest surviving tiger subspecies
and are distinguished by heavy black stripes on their orange
coats. The last of Indonesia’s tigers—less than 400 today—are
holding on for survival in the remaining patches of forests on
the island of Sumatra. Accelerating deforestation and
rampant poaching mean this noble creature could end up
like its extinct Javan and Balinese relatives. In Indonesia,
anyone caught hunting tigers could face jail time and steep
fines. But despite increased efforts in tiger conservation—
including strengthening law enforcement and antipoaching
capacity—a substantial market remains in Sumatra and the
rest of Asia for tiger parts and products. Sumatran tigers are
losing their habitat and prey fast, and poaching shows no
sign of decline.

26. LEATHERBACK TURTLE
• Leatherback turtles are named for their shell, which is
leather-like rather than hard, like other turtles. They are the
largest sea turtle species and also one of the most migratory,
crossing both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Pacific
leatherbacks migrate from nesting beaches in the Coral
Triangle all the way to the California coast to feed on the
abundant jellyfish every summer and fall. Although their
distribution is wide, numbers of leatherback turtles have
seriously declined during the last century as a result of
intense egg collection and fisheries by catch. Globally,
leatherback status according to IUCN is listed as Vulnerable,
but many subpopulations (such as in the Pacific and
Southwest Atlantic) are Critically Endangered.

28. BALA SHARK
• The bala shark, Balantiocheilos melanopterus, also known as
the tricolor shark, tricolor sharkminnow, silver shark,
or shark minnow, is a fish species of the family Cyprinidae,
and is one of the two species in the genus Balantiocheilos.
This species is not a true shark, but is commonly so called
because of its torpedo-shaped body and large fins. It is
endangered because the population decreased by 50% in the
last 10 years. Sharks are endangered because of a myriad of
threats from human activities. Since there are so many
threats, many sharks species are critically endangered and
may become extinct in the next few years.

30. MALAYSIAN ARE THE REASON.
• Malaysia is home to some of the world’s most
remarkable wildlife. According to the National
Biodiversity Index, Malaysia is ranked 12th among 17
mega diverse countries in the world, housing over
15,000 species of vascular plants and 152,000 species
of animal life.
• Sadly, many of our beloved animals are being
threatened due to deforestation, poaching, and illegal
trade. These animals are born in Malaysia and they're
Malaysians too. So it's time that we as Malaysians
become aware of our fellow "Endangered Malaysians"
that have been disappearing.

31. WHAT WE CAN DO
• Educate your family about endangered species in
your area.
• Recycle and buy sustainable products.
• Grow native plants.
• Reduce your water consumption.
• Stop over hunting and fishing.
• Do car polling.
• Do not buy plastic products.