Preferensi Habitat Trenggiling (Manis Javanica Desmarest, 1822) di Sekitar Suaka Margasatwa Siranggas, Sumatera Utara

Abstract

Sunda Pangolin population in the wild has been continuously decreasing and requires serious conservation effort to increase their condition. Habitat preference is one among ecological information needed to develop its conservation techniques. In 2012, data on habitat types and resources preferred by pangolin were collected during 10 months field survey to gain adequate information on factors affecting their occurrence in and around Siranggas Wildlife Reserve, North Sumatra. A total number of 28 plots of 50 m x 50 m for observing types of habitat and 20 m x 20 m for habitat resources were established in four types of forest, i.e. primary forest, secondary forest, mixed-forest and cultivation forest. A descriptive statistical analysis, MANOVA (multivariate of variant), normality and correlation test, and regression equationwere used to analyze data for all habitat components. Results indicate that pangolin does not prefer certain habitat types feeding and nesting behavior, but in general, the most preferred habitat is the secondary forest. Resources selection function model showed that pangolin's feeding and nesting were strongly affected by the number of seedling/undergrowth species (X1) and soil pH (X13) with Nagelkerke R 2 about 83.5%.