Abstract
Between 1973 and 2010, 39.5% of Sabah’s (Malaysian Borneo) natural forest cover was lost to deforestation and conversion to agriculture, therefore the remaining population of endangered Bornean banteng Bos javanicus lowi is being driven towards extinction. The Bornean banteng’s herd demography, sexual segregation and the effects of forest management were investigated at 393 camera locations in 6 forest reserves using generalised estimating equations (GEE) fitted via a generalised linear model (GLM). A total of 43344 camera trap nights and 832 independent banteng events were captured at 93 locations. The identification of 183 bantengs included 22 herds (>1 individual) and 12 solitary bulls, with a herd size range of 2 to 21. Significantly larger herds were observed in forest with <8 yr of post-logging regeneration (PLR), whereas herds were smaller in forest with <3, 4 and 16 yr of PLR. Within these forests, herds were significantly larger along logging roads than in open sites and on forest trails. Herds were significantly larger in upland compared to lowland dipterocarp forest, but significantly smaller when closer to the forest border. Bachelor herds were observed as frequently as mixed-sex herds, and there was a significantly higher capture frequency of female herds in the dry season, supporting the theory of sexual segregation. Frequency of calf births was highest in March and September, and calf captures peaked in June and July. This study contributes to a better understanding of banteng ecology, and will assist in the production of effective management strategies aimed at providing suitable habitat for re-population and enabling banteng population persistence.
Highlights
Tropical forests are the richest terrestrial ecosystem on Earth (Gentry 1992) and contain many of the world’s ‘biodiversity hotspots’ (Myers et al 2000), yet are experiencing the greatest forest loss of all forest do-Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.comEndang Species Res 35: 141–157, 2018(Maxwell et al 2016)
Between 1973 and 2010, 39.5% of forest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, was lost to selective logging, fire and conversion to oil palm and timber plantations (Gaveau et al 2014). Of this forest loss, 97% occurred in habitat suitable for the Bornean banteng Bos javanicus lowi (Gaveau et al 2014, Gardner et al 2016), likely the rarest mammal in Sabah that the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis has been declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia (Havmøller et al 2016)
This study presents baseline data of the Bornean banteng which can assist in producing appropriate management procedures that will work towards their conservation
Summary
Tropical forests are the richest terrestrial ecosystem on Earth (Gentry 1992) and contain many of the world’s ‘biodiversity hotspots’ (Myers et al 2000), yet are experiencing the greatest forest loss of all forest do-Publisher: Inter-Research · www.int-res.comEndang Species Res 35: 141–157, 2018(Maxwell et al 2016). Of the 3 major tropical regions, Southeast Asian forests are experiencing the highest rates of forest loss (Sodhi et al 2004), requiring urgent conservation attention. Between 1973 and 2010, 39.5% of forest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, was lost to selective logging, fire and conversion to oil palm and timber plantations (Gaveau et al 2014). Of this forest loss, 97% occurred in habitat suitable for the Bornean banteng Bos javanicus lowi (Gaveau et al 2014, Gardner et al 2016), likely the rarest mammal in Sabah that the Sumatran rhinoceros Dicerorhinus sumatrensis has been declared extinct in the wild in Malaysia (Havmøller et al 2016)
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