Salt Licks: Their Vital Importance to the Conservation of Wildlife in Malaya. Facsimile reprint
Theodore Hubback’s 1941 article, originally published in the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society and reprinted here as a facsimile in JMBRAS (2022), documents the salt licks of Ulu Pahang and argues that their legal protection is indispensable to the survival of Malaya’s large fauna. Writing from direct field observation, Hubback contends that the ecological function of these licks has been overlooked by conservation authorities at a critical moment when poaching and human encroachment were driving species toward local extinction.
Summary
Hubback’s central argument is that salt licks—sulphur springs, saline mud deposits, and related soil exudations—are not incidental features of the Malayan jungle but essential components of the habitat required for the normal life cycle of large mammals including elephant, seladang, rhinoceros, tapir, sambhur, and barking deer. He describes a dozen or more specific licks across the Telom, Serau, Jelai Ketchil, and Telang valleys, drawing on personal observation of animal behaviour, trail wear, wallow patterns, and the physical evidence of past use (polished rocks, abandoned trails, old pits) to reconstruct the former abundance of species now in steep decline.
The article is as much a conservation brief as a natural history survey. Hubback identifies two converging threats: the cumulative depletion of breeding populations through poaching (particularly the “infernal pits” set for rhinoceros) and the disruption of normal breeding cycles caused by the presence of gold stealers and jelutong tappers in river valleys. He provides a striking case study at Jenut Stein, where the temporary occupation of a hut by two Chinese tappers caused both seladang and elephants to abandon the lick for over two years, demonstrating how sensitive these sites are to even minor human disturbance.
The article culminates in a specific legislative proposal: that land within a two-mile radius of all active salt licks be reserved from alienation under the Wild Animals and Birds Protection Enactment (Cap. 193), with a scheduled list of protected licks appended to the law. Hubback documents several instances where this existing informal ruling—agreed by the Residents—had been ignored, including a buffalo farm established directly on Jenut Tersang and prospecting licences granted over areas containing Jenut Misong and Jenut Lanau without Game Warden consultation.
Key Findings
- Hubback identified eight individual tusker elephants at Jenut Lanau alone, the most important lick in the Telom Valley, and observed up to five sambhur deer feeding simultaneously there (p. 134).
- At Jenut Briang in the Serau Valley, he counted 18 old rhinoceros pits, and at Jenut Batu Papan he found 14, both testifying to former rhino populations now reduced to a handful of survivors (pp. 135–136).
- In the Serambun Valley (approximately 30,000 acres), Hubback identified only five rhinoceros, including one calf, and applied to have the area designated a rhino reserve—a request he states was overruled due to gold speculation (p. 136).
- The temporary occupation of a hut near Jenut Stein by two Chinese tappers caused complete abandonment of the lick by both seladang and elephants for over two years, illustrating the sensitivity of these sites to human presence (p. 135).
- Hubback proposed scheduling nine specific licks for legislative protection: Jenut Lanau, Jenut Misong, Jenut Bliong, Jenut Batu Dada, Jenut Batu Papan, Jenut Briang, Jenut Stein, Jenut Gatak, and Jenut Blimbing (p. 138).
- An existing inter-Resident ruling prohibited the alienation of land within two miles of a recognized salt lick without Game Warden consultation, but Hubback documents at least three instances of this being breached, including a buffalo farm sited directly on Jenut Tersang (p. 137).
Conclusion
Hubback’s definitive takeaway is that salt-lick protection must be embedded in statute rather than left to informal administrative practice. He argues that without legal reservation of the land surrounding these sites from all forms of exploitation—mining, prospecting, jungle produce extraction, and settlement—the licks will be destroyed or rendered unusable, and with them the last viable populations of Malaya’s large mammals will be lost. The article is both a field record and a policy intervention, written at the moment when the window for saving the Sumatran rhinoceros and seladang in Ulu Pahang was closing rapidly.
Context
- Hubback was a senior colonial official in Pahang (Game Warden or equivalent conservation role) writing from direct administrative responsibility for wildlife enforcement; the article functions as both a scientific record and an internal policy memo directed at his colonial superiors.
- The facsimile reprint in JMBRAS (2022) preserves the original 1941 text without editorial commentary beyond a brief note identifying the source publication.