PUTRAJAYA, Oct 13 — Malaysia and Japan today inked an agreement to collaborate in conservation of the Malayan tapir (tapirus indicus) for a period of ten years beginning this year.

The agreement was signed by Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia (DWNP) director-general Datuk Abd Rasid Samsudin and Nagasaki Bio Park director, Satoshi Yamaguchi.

The signing ceremony was witnessed by Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar and Japanese Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Makio Miyagawa at the Natural Resources and Environment ministry, here today.

Under the agreement, a pair of Malayan tapir known as Im, a two-year old male, and Bertam, a three-year old female, would be sent to Japan two weeks from now. The two tapir are from the Malay tapir Conservation Centre (MTCC) in Sungai Dusun, Selangor.

Throughout the collaboration, the tapir would stay in Nagasaki Bio Park in an environment close to their natural habitat.

Wan Junaidi in his speech said such collaboration would provide ample opportunities for DWNP and Nagasaki Bio Park research teams to generate and share knowledge and information on wildlife management, ecotourism, park management and breeding programme.

He said the Malayan tapir was a unique wildlife and the biggest among the four living tapir species. It is the only species with a black and white coloration.

“It is considered a habitat generalist, which means it has a wide distribution which includes peat swamps and lower montane forest. Estimated to be around 1,100-1,500 tapir exist in the wild,” he further said.

Meanwhile, Miyagawa in his speech said, tapir is a mesmerising animal and the two Malayan tapir would be allowed to roam free and interact with visitors in the Nagasaki Bio Park.

“There is a Japanese mythology that tapir eat our people’s nightmare and we hope these two tapir will disperse our nightmares soon,” he quipped. — Bernama