374 EXTINCT AND VANISHING MAMMALS 



amusing. As the jungles are cleared the tapir becomes rarer and 

 rarer." 



S. S. Flower (1900, pp. 368-369) gives records for Province Welles- 

 ley, Kedah, Malacca, Pahang, and Perak, and adds: "H. H. the 

 Rajah Mudah of Kedah told me (June 1898) that the Tapir is not 

 uncommon in the swamps of Kedah, within a day's journey of Alor 

 Star. Mr. F. H. Malcolm Staples told me (Sept. 1897) that the Tapir 

 is still sometimes met with about Batu Pahat, Johore." 



It is "still not uncommon in the Malay Peninsula and Sumatra, 

 but much persecuted by menagerie keepers. No zoo anywhere in the 

 world is considered complete without a pair of Malayan tapirs and 

 for every animal that survives in an exhibition, several die in Singa- 

 pore, or in transit." It needs protection. (F. N. Chasen, in litt., 

 March 31 and May 5, 1937.) 



Sumatra. "Concerning the possibilities of the survival of the 

 Indian Tapir opinions are at variance. Some speak of 'relentless 

 hunting' by Natives, while others claim that the tapir needs no 

 protection by law, since it has no market value, the meat is not eaten, 

 and the animal is, moreover, very shy. In addition, owing to Native 

 superstition it is little molested. . . . They are yet quite numerous 

 near the headwaters of the Koealoe and Bila Rivers; as well as 

 farther south near the kotta Siak Sri Indrapoera and the Mandau 

 River; as well as near the salt springs of Ampoe Gadang, Djambi 

 and N. West Palembang. 



"Few will question the necessity of enforcing rigidly and thor- 

 oughly the Decree on Game Protection with regard to this animal." 

 (Heynsius-Viruly and Van Heurn, 1936, p. 50.) 



"I know of one authentic case near the borders of our plantation 

 [at Dolok Merangir, east-central Sumatra] in which a group of 

 native clerks were hunting at night. They saw a pair of eyes and 

 shot to find that they had a large tapir ; one of a pair known to be 

 in that region. It seems that rhinoceros and other large animals are 

 killed by the same methods and by planned attacks by the natives 

 without any serious consequences." (Walter N. Bangham, in litt., 

 1933.) 



According to Dammerman (in Skottsberg, 1934, p. 422), the 

 species is threatened with extinction. 



Kuiper (1926, pp. 425-426) records three black individuals from 

 the Palembang region, southeastern Sumatra. He considers that 

 these represent "more than an individual aberration," and gives 

 them the name Tapirus indicics var. brevetianus. 



"The Malay tapir is strictly protected by Dutch law in Sumatra ; 

 not even scientific institutions being allowed to collect it. ... 



"Carl Berthold, the well-known animal dealer of Medan, has noted 



