Скачать или смотреть A Sambar deer wallowing or, perhaps, 'goldening'

Together with my buddy Zubir, officer of the Royal Belum State Park, we set up a camera near this small wallow, hoping to record some wild boars. In 2019, about two hundred meters from this location, we recorded a group of more than 30 individuals, ranging from adults to newborns, wallowing almost every day. However, after one month, early this year, we did not record a single wild boar. Their fate will be discussed in future posts. Instead, we captured footage of a magnificent male sambar deer.
Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor) are known to be a favored prey species of the Malayan tiger. In Royal Belum State Park, they are still quite abundant, which most likely contributes to the relatively healthy tiger population in the area. However, in many forest regions of Peninsular Malaysia, the sambar deer population has decreased significantly, and in some areas, they have even completely disappeared!!! This is due to habitat fragmentation and intensive poaching. Low or no sambar deer population raises concerns among conservationists that even if we manage to protect the tigers, there may not be sufficient prey available for them to sustain and expand their population.