SUNGEI BULOH WETLANDS RESERVE FIELD GUIDE

FAWNA

SMOOTH OTTER

SMOOTH OTTERS

• Smooth Otters are the largest otters in Southeast Asia. They are named for their shorter, smoother coats which appears very shiny. Like other otters, they have shorter tightly packed underfur and longer protected hairs which are water repellant.

MALAYAN WATER MONITOR LIZARDS

MALAYAN WATER MONITORS

• Among the largest lizards in the world, certainly the largest reptile in our marine habitats. A robust, muscular body with a long tail that is flattened towards the slender tip. It has a slender forked tongue. The nostrils are located close to the tip of the long and slender snout. It has small non-overlapping scales on a thick leathery skin. Hatchlings are black with whitish undersides with rows of bright yellow spots forming bands along the back and tail. This pattern fades in adults which is often plain grey. Non-venomous and shy of humans, it will prefer to flee than to fight. But if cornered, it may bite. So do leave the monitors alone.

GIANT MUDSKIPPERS

GIANT MUDSKIPPERS

• At high tide, they may remain at the water surface, near their burrows, resting on roots, rocks or other surfaces. At low tide, they forage actively on the mudflat or perch at the entrance of their burrows.

PLANTAIN SQUIRRELS

PLANTAIN SQUIRRELS

• The Plantain Squirrel is extremely adaptable, occurring in a wide range of habitats including secondary and coastal forest, mangrove, plantations, parklands and semi-urban areas. Diurnal in habits it feeds mainly on fruits, especially those planted by man such as rambutan and jackfruit, however it will also eat insects such as ants.

SALTWATER CROCIDILE

SALTWATER CROCODILE

• The saltwater crocodile, also known as the estuarine crocodile, is the largest of all living reptiles, as well as the largest terrestrial and riparian predator in the world.

FLORA

MANGROVES

MANGROVES

• Mangroves live life on the edge. With one foot on land and one in the sea, these botanical amphibians occupy a zone of desiccating heat, choking mud, and salt levels that would kill an ordinary plant within hours. Yet the forests mangroves form are among the most productive and biologically complex ecosystems on Earth. Birds roost in the canopy, shellfish attach themselves to the roots, and snakes and crocodiles come to hunt. Mangroves provide nursery grounds for fish; a food source for monkeys, deer, tree-climbing crabs, even kangaroos; and a nectar source for bats and honeybees.

BLIND YOUR EYE

BLIND YOUR EYES

• The milky sap of this tree can cause temporary blindness if it enters the eyes, hence is common name in English and Malay. The sap can also cause skin blisters and irritation.

SEA HIBISCUS

SEA HIBISCUS

• Throughout the tropics as a cultivated or wild species. Locally, it is found at most sites. A spreading, many-branched tree to 15 m tall. Leaves are spirally arranged, and the blades are heart-shaped with a pointed tip and slightly toothed, dark green above and whitish and short-hairy below.

SEA POISON

SEA POISON

• Sea Poison Tree is a beach tree native of Asia and Australia. Sandy beaches and coastal regions with a dash of salt in the soil is the ideal place for these trees to grow best.

SWAMP FERNS

SWAMP FERNS

• This is one of our most common ferns found throughout most of Florida in swamps and moist pinelands. It is normally two to three feet tall in sunny locations, yet may reach six feet in deep shade. It is also called marsh fern, yet that name goes to Thelypteris palustris.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• http://mangrove.nus.edu.sg/guidebooks/text/1063.htm
• http://www.naturia.per.sg/buloh/plants/blind%20your%20eye.htm
• http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/02/mangroves/warne-text
• https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltwater_crocodile
• http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/plantain_squirrel.htm
• http://meadowbeautynursery.com/swamp-fern/
• http://www.itslife.in/gardening/trees/sea-poison-tree