Endangered Rainforest Animals
A Traffic Problem or Tourist Attraction?

I Brake 4 Endangered Rainforest Animals

By Rick Gregory

America is a vast land criss-crossed by a network of highways and by-ways. The automobile is its ultimate freedom machine.

And bumper stickers show off a steady flow of slogans on topics that matter to a car’s occupants. Animals, it seems, are special to motorists.

Travel along any stretch of tarmac and soon you’ll be behind a vehicle with a strong warning:

• I Brake for Animals
• I Brake for Penguins
• I Brake for Whales
• I Brake for Ducks
• I Brake for Butterflies.

Jamming on the car brakes means that you’d rather cause a multiple car collision than go too fast and run over a critter.

Malaysia’s highway system may not be on par with the American version. But it can boast some bodacious bumper stickers due to the superb scenery abutting the East-West Highway that cuts across the country’s northern frontier. The highway is a 124 km strip of black ribbon traversing through a tropical rainforest full of fantastic fauna and a canopy-filled skyline.

Known as the Belum-Temengor forest complex, a quirk of history allowed this tropical haven to survive. In the 1960s, communist insurgents hid in these dense jungles while at odds with the government until they surrendered in the late 1980s.

Today, Belum-Temengor sustains a full range of wildlife from big mammals, such as the Malayan tiger, Malayan tapir and Asian elephant, elegant and lanky gibbons, the rare rhinoceros, and grand birds, including all ten Malaysian hornbills and several kingfishers, thriving in prime lowland habitat vital for nourishing biodiversity.

The richness and diversity of these magnificent forests make for some great roadside attractions. The highway bisects adjacent forest trails allowing exiting elephants to be frequent sights for motorists. Overhead, hundreds of hornbills sometimes flock on their way to feeding sites. While the jungle offers a vast, green backdrop punctuated by totemic tualang trees, a glimpse of cavorting monkeys or the frenetic escape of a deer out of cover.

Mixing driving with wildlife does have its hazards. Who has the right-of-way, a BMW, a tourist bus or a 3,000 kg massive mammal? Signboards posted along the highway remind travellers to heed caution when an unexpected elephant emerges on the tarmac.

Leaving drivers to choose the most appropriate technique to use during a wildlife encounter is not too wise. The traditional urban method of rapid-fire horn blasts tends to only anger elephants. Remember this: provoking a wild animal on their turf is not a good idea. Didn’t you ever watch the National Geographic channel once or at least catch the Crocodile Hunter in action?

Here are some other helpful highway tips when approached by a wild beast, courtesy of the Malaysian Nature Society, to try to keep both wildlife and tourists safe:

• The East-West Highway splits a natural rainforest full of pathways for wild animals, so enjoy the ride and be aware of, rather than race upon, unexpected four-legged visitors on the road.
• The basics: slow down or stop; observe wildlife from an extremely safe distance; do not flash lights; do not honk; do not feed; and do not get out of the vehicle.
• Watch out for common wildlife sighting areas and watch your speed.

It’s amazing really. To cruise by car into the heart of a rainforest and watch an Asian elephant appear in wild splendour. I think Tourism Malaysia should flaunt this unique attraction with some of the following stickers in its next Visit Malaysia campaign:

• I Brake 4 Asian Elephants!
• I Brake 4 Malayan Tigers!
• I Brake 4 Rhinoceros Hornbills!
• I Brake 4 Biodiversity!
• I Brake Because That Elephant is Enormous!
• I Don’t Brake … I Get Out and Go Jungle Trekking!

The East-West Highway is truly a wild ride. But it may not be for much longer due to a disturbing development. The roadside may be planted with acacia trees; the entire stretch dominated by a monotonous mono-crop. That is really boring.

What is more scenic? A once-in-a-lifetime chance at a wildlife experience or waiting to pass logging trucks trudging uphill. Tourists want to travel the East-West Highway to see megafauna, not a hundred kilometres of lifeless plantations.

Rare events in life are too few. Let’s keep the East-West Highway a wildlife corridor, full of animal anticipation and wonderment at every turn. If the roadside forest disappears for plantations or fast-food outlets and elephants no longer stalk the pavement, then I’d rather not pay attention and drive full throttle.

And that would be more dangerous than any wildlife encounter.

Return To Top

Go to Jungle Essays

From Endangered Rainforest Animals to Home