Reexamining The Habit, Occurrence, Breeding Season And Conservation Of The Pen-Tailed Tree Shrew Ptilocercus Lowii

A pen-tailed tree shrew (Ptilocercus lowii) specimen was live-trapped in 2006 in an Acacia plantation for the first known time at Samarakan Planted Forest Zone (PFZ) in Bintulu, Sarawak. However, its lack of recurring in other Acacia plantations suggests that the monoculture agricultural field is not a typical habitat for this species. Live-trapping data suggest that generally there were two breeding seasons per year for this species in Borneo: a more consistent one occurred between February and April, and a broader one between June and October. The second, the broader breeding season likely varied based on the microhabi tat of each sampling site. In Samarakan PFZ, during the 2006 season, we recorded one breeding season between September and October, and in 2007 recorded one between June and July. Meanwhile, since the year 2000, this species was recorded at only 17 locations within its range of distribution in Southeast Asia, suggesting the possibility of population decline and shrinkage in its distribution range. Given the rapid disappearance of forested areas in Southeast Asia, stepping up the field studies and targeted sampling for this species becomes the priority task for all of its conservation work.