Science & Technology

Determining whether a place is a rich ecosystem involves taking into accounts many factors, and one of those is the diversity of animals. Covering an expansive 534 acres, Walailak Botanical Park not only conserves native plants but also features a large reservoir and an herbal garden. This ecosystem is home to a variety of birds, insects, and cold-blooded animals like reptiles.

“My hypothesis was that we would find more than five species of reptiles at Walailak Botanic Park,” said Ms. Ungku Zafirah Bt Abdulaziz, a third-year student majoring in Zoology from University of Science Malaysia (Universiti Sains Malaysia), who is having her two-month internship at the School of Science, Walailak University.

During the eleven-day period, from 3 September to 13 September, Ungku observed reptiles in their natural habitat within the park three times a day- morning, afternoon, and evening. She found a total of eight reptile species, and two of them are protected.

Here’s the list of reptiles that Ungku found:
•    Water monitor lizard (protected species)
•    Clouded monitor lizard (protected species)
•    Many-lined sun skink
•    Round-tailed common house gecko
•    Flat-tailed common house gecko
•    Malayan snail-eating turtle
•    Golden tree snake
•    Oriental garden lizard

“If you visit the garden on cooler days, let’s say when the weather is around 26 degrees Celsius, there’s a high chance that you will see more reptiles such as the water monitor lizard, many-lined sun skink, both the common house gecko species, and other reptiles. But on hotter days, at around 31 degrees Celsius, round-tailed common house gecko would be more prevalent under roofs or shade,” explained Ungku.

Dr. Curt Hrad Barnes, a lecturer and reptile specialist at the School of Science at Walailak University, and the supervisor of Ungku’s research project said that within this project on reptile biodiversity, the main focus is to understand how many species and what species exactly are present there at the park. 

“Some of these species are very common; you can find them around your house. But some of these species are protected because in some areas the populations are declining. Two of these species - the monitor lizards - they are protected. And it’s really interesting and very good that we have them there. They are wild and they are very shy of people, and people are not having problems with them.”

"So, we have this biodiversity that is there, and it seems like it is coexisting with people. These are what we’re interested in for conservation. How can we have many species, especially those species that may not be doing so well? How can we maintain the biodiversity? But also, how can we think about people – keep them safe while also interested in different animals or different plants?," said Dr. Curt.


Common name: Water monitor lizard 
Scientific name: Varanus salvator


Common name: Many-lined sun skink
Scientific name: Eutropis multifasciata

Common name: Golden tree snake
Scientific name: Chrysopelea ornata

Common name: Oriental Garden lizard
Scientific name: Calotes versicolor


Dr. Curt Hrad Barnes (left) and Ms. Ungku Zafirah Bt Abdulaziz (right)

Photos by Ungku Zafirah Bt Abdulaziz
Article by Settaboot Onphakdee, Division of Corporate Communication