As you’d expect, the tropical vegetation and geography of Malaysia is host to a number of animals and unique species. There are the ones you know of—sea turtles and orangutans—but there are also tigers, Sumatran rhinos, Sun Bears and more. About 70 per cent of Malaysia consists of tropical rain forest. In Peninsular Malaysia, camphor, ebony, sandalwood, teak, and many varieties of palm trees abound. Rain forest fauna includes seladang (Malayan bison), deer, wild pigs, tree shrews, honey bears, forest cats, civets, monkeys, crocodiles, lizards, and snakes. The seladang weighs about a ton and is the largest wild ox in the world. An immense variety of insects, particularly butterflies, and some 508 breeding species of birds are found.
On Sabah and Sarawak, lowland forests contain some 400 species of tall dipterocarps (hardwoods) and semihardwoods; fig trees abound, attracting small mammals and birds; and groves are formed by the extensive aerial roots of warangen (a sacred tree to indigenous peoples). As altitude increases, herbaceous plants—buttercups, violets, and valerian—become more numerous, until moss-covered evergreen forests are reached from 1,520 to 1,830m (5,000–6,000ft). Butterflies, brilliantly coloured birds of paradise, and a great wealth of other insect and bird species inhabit the two states.
