Fraser's Hill, Malaysia Photograph by © WWF-Canon/Mauri RAUTKARI   Indo-Malay Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests   6,600 square miles (17,200 square kilometers) -- about the size of Connecticut and Delaware combined Relatively Stable/Intact

· A Refuge in the Highlands
· Special Features
· Did You Know?
· Wild Side
· Cause for Concern
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A Refuge in the Highlands

Some of the most important refuges for wildlife around the world are montane regions where humans have had less impact and much wild land remains. Such is the case with the Peninsular Malaysia Montane Rain Forests. As you climb out of the lowland areas and up into the high mountain forests, you'll discover fewer signs of humans and large blocks of intact forest. Among the many animals that have found refuge in these forests are endangered tigers, elephants, clouded leopards, and rare sun bears.

Special Features

Warm temperatures and steady rainfall are the norm in these leafy forests. But two monsoon seasons--October to March in the eastern portions and April to August in the west--douse the region with extra water every year. The region comprises several distinct montane habitat blocks, including the Main Range, Fraser's Hill, the Genting Highlands, and Mt. Tahan. Here you'll find shorter and more slender trees than those that grow in the lowlands. Forests dominated by oaks and chestnuts give way to rhododendrons in the highest elevations. Orchids, ferns, mosses, lichens, and liverworts grow in abundance on the branches of trees.

	Almost one-half of all of Malaysia's mammal species are bats!

Wild Side

Keep your eyes peeled for the sights and sounds of tigers, Malaysian tapirs, elephants, clouded leopards, sun bears, wild cattle called gaurs, and two-horned Sumatran rhinos. All of these large animals have declined in number over the last several decades but have found safer refuge in the high forests. The forests are home to one species of rodent found nowhere else in the world, as well as a number of other montane mammals including the red-cheeked squirrel, an arboreal ape called the siamang, and the lesser moonrat. An abundance of bats fills the forests, along with deer, otters, civets, and primates. And more than 250 birds live here, including 75 that are specially adapted for montane life. Two of these -- the mountain peacock-pheasant and the crested argus -- are considered threatened.

Cause for Concern

Although about two-thirds of these forests are currently intact, several threats exist. Despite the rugged terrain, logging is now intensive on the lower slopes. Resort development has degraded some popular mountain areas. And a new road is planned in the Main Range, presenting a threat to one of the two largest blocks of primary forest in this ecoregion.

For more information on this ecoregion, go to the World Wildlife Fund Scientific Report.