Charles M. Francis - Mammals of South-east Asia

Bloomsbury Natural History

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First published by New Holland UK Ltd, 2001 as A Photographic Guide to Mammals of South-East Asia
This edition first published by Bloomsbury, 2016

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2016

text Charles M. Francis 2001, 2016

Charles M. Francis has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Author of this work.

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ISBN: 978-1-4729-3797-1 (PB)

ISBN: 978-1-4729-3796-4 (eBook)

ISBN: 978-1-4729-3799-5 (ePDF)

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CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Mammals are familiar to everybody, as they include domestic animals such as dogs, cats, horses and cattle as well as, of course, ourselves humans. However, fewer people know about the tremendous diversity of wild mammals. Over 4,400 species occur around the world. South-east Asia is particularly rich in mammals with over 500 species in the region covered by this book, including wild cattle, elephants, rhinoceros, wild pigs, wild cats, bears, monkeys and many smaller species such as rodents, shrews and bats.

Watching mammals presents more challenges than watching birds, since many species are small and nocturnal, and difficult to observe and identify. In South-east Asia, even larger mammals can be difficult to find, as their natural habitats are thick tropical forests. Nevertheless, a keen observer can locate many mammals. The loud morning songs of gibbons ring across the forests in many areas. Many monkeys and squirrels can be seen during a walk through forests or gardens. Civets, flying squirrels, lorises and other mammals may be found during a night walk through lowland rainforest with a spotlight. Larger mammals such as cattle, tapirs, or bears can be located by tracks or signs, or seen from hides near salt licks. Bats can often be seen at roost in caves, or at dusk as they hunt for insects.

This book provides an introduction to the wild mammals of South-east Asia, including the countries of Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and western Indonesia including Sumatra, Java, Bali, and Borneo. Most species of larger mammals are included, which should enable identification of many animals encountered in these groups. For smaller animals, such as rodents, insectivores and bats, only representative species are included, because there is not space in a book of this size to describe all species.

Much remains to be learned about mammals in South-east Asia. Since 1990, several new species of large mammals have been discovered that were previously unknown to science, including Saola, Large-antlered Muntjac, Puhoat Muntjac and Annamite Muntjac from the Annamite mountains in Laos and Vietnam, and Leaf Muntjac from Northern Myanmar. Many more species of small mammals have also been discovered, including a new striped rabbit, several new rodents and many new bats.