Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo

Tomistoma schlegelii, the Freshwater Malayan Gharial or Tomistoma (local name: buaya jejulong), is secretive in nature; thus, very limited information is currently available on its wild population, especially in Sarawak. The objective of this study is to describe effort in assessing the Tomistoma wi...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ruhana, Hassan, Rambli, Ahmad, Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar, Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani, Anuar, Ayob, Ramlah, Zainudin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016
Subjects:
Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/1/Notes%20on%20the%20Wild%20Tomistoma%20Populations%20in%20Western%20Sarawak%20%28abstract%29.pdf
_version_ 1848837625529499648
author Ruhana, Hassan
Rambli, Ahmad
Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar
Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani
Anuar, Ayob
Ramlah, Zainudin
author_facet Ruhana, Hassan
Rambli, Ahmad
Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar
Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani
Anuar, Ayob
Ramlah, Zainudin
author_sort Ruhana, Hassan
building UNIMAS Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Tomistoma schlegelii, the Freshwater Malayan Gharial or Tomistoma (local name: buaya jejulong), is secretive in nature; thus, very limited information is currently available on its wild population, especially in Sarawak. The objective of this study is to describe effort in assessing the Tomistoma wild populations in Ulu Sebuyau, Samarahan, and Serian, western Sarawak. Despite many challenges faced, this research has been successful at different levels. There was no Tomistoma seen during day surveys (2014-2015) in tributary of Samarahan River (Samarahan), Bunga-Baki River (Serian), and Kepayang River (Ulu Sebuyau). However, the research team came across two incidents of Tomistoma captured by the local people: (i) an adult male Tomistoma, captured in February 2015 in peat swamp area of Samarahan River tributary, and (ii) a hatchling, caught in Bunga-Baki River in March 2015. The sightings of Tomistoma in Kepayang River were reported by local people in February 2016; however, no individual was captured. The presence of hatchling in Bunga-Baki River indicates that a breeding population is most likely to occur in the area, and this gives hope for future conservation of Tomistoma in Sarawak. All sampling sites recorded almost similar water quality parameters and landscape of peat swamp areas, which previous studies claimed to be the potential Tomistoma habitats. The findings of this study should help relevant state agencies to step up efforts related to conservation of Tomistoma in Sarawak.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T06:42:38Z
format Article
id unimas-14335
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
institution_category Local University
language English
last_indexed 2025-11-15T06:42:38Z
publishDate 2016
publisher Hindawi Publishing Corporation
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling unimas-143352017-01-18T06:44:46Z http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/ Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo Ruhana, Hassan Rambli, Ahmad Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani Anuar, Ayob Ramlah, Zainudin SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling Tomistoma schlegelii, the Freshwater Malayan Gharial or Tomistoma (local name: buaya jejulong), is secretive in nature; thus, very limited information is currently available on its wild population, especially in Sarawak. The objective of this study is to describe effort in assessing the Tomistoma wild populations in Ulu Sebuyau, Samarahan, and Serian, western Sarawak. Despite many challenges faced, this research has been successful at different levels. There was no Tomistoma seen during day surveys (2014-2015) in tributary of Samarahan River (Samarahan), Bunga-Baki River (Serian), and Kepayang River (Ulu Sebuyau). However, the research team came across two incidents of Tomistoma captured by the local people: (i) an adult male Tomistoma, captured in February 2015 in peat swamp area of Samarahan River tributary, and (ii) a hatchling, caught in Bunga-Baki River in March 2015. The sightings of Tomistoma in Kepayang River were reported by local people in February 2016; however, no individual was captured. The presence of hatchling in Bunga-Baki River indicates that a breeding population is most likely to occur in the area, and this gives hope for future conservation of Tomistoma in Sarawak. All sampling sites recorded almost similar water quality parameters and landscape of peat swamp areas, which previous studies claimed to be the potential Tomistoma habitats. The findings of this study should help relevant state agencies to step up efforts related to conservation of Tomistoma in Sarawak. Hindawi Publishing Corporation 2016 Article PeerReviewed text en http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/1/Notes%20on%20the%20Wild%20Tomistoma%20Populations%20in%20Western%20Sarawak%20%28abstract%29.pdf Ruhana, Hassan and Rambli, Ahmad and Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar and Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani and Anuar, Ayob and Ramlah, Zainudin (2016) Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. International Journal of Ecology, 2016. ISSN 1687-9708 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4357623 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/4357623
spellingShingle SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
Ruhana, Hassan
Rambli, Ahmad
Muhammad Amirul Arib, Md Adzhar
Mohd Izwan Zulaini, Abdul Gani
Anuar, Ayob
Ramlah, Zainudin
Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_full Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_fullStr Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_full_unstemmed Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_short Notes on the Wild Tomistoma Populations in Western Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
title_sort notes on the wild tomistoma populations in western sarawak, malaysian borneo
topic SH Aquaculture. Fisheries. Angling
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/
http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/14335/1/Notes%20on%20the%20Wild%20Tomistoma%20Populations%20in%20Western%20Sarawak%20%28abstract%29.pdf