Why it represents the country
Malaysia has no separate law that names a national animal, but the Malayan tiger has a place of honor on the national coat of arms. Two tigers stand on their hind legs on either side of the shield, holding it up. The coat of arms was adopted in 1963, and tigers on the arms go back further still, to the heraldry of the Federated Malay States in the late 19th century. In Malay tradition the tigers stand for strength and courage.
The tiger's image appears in many other parts of Malaysian life. The national football team is known as Harimau Malaya, which means Malayan tiger, and tigers appear in logos, sports badges and campaigns across the country. For many Malaysians the tiger is simply the animal that represents the nation.
The symbol carries a warning too. The Malayan tiger is now one of the rarest big cats in Asia, and its future depends on whether the forests of the peninsula can be kept whole and safe.
About the animal
The Malayan tiger lives in the southern and central parts of the Malay Peninsula. It looks much like other mainland tigers, with an orange coat, black stripes and a white belly, but it tends to be somewhat smaller than tigers in India. Males are larger than females and can reach well over two meters in total length, including the tail.
Since a review of cat taxonomy in 2017, many scientists group the Malayan tiger with the other mainland Asian tigers rather than treating it as its own subspecies. Genetic studies still show that the peninsula's tigers form a distinct population, and Malaysia continues to manage them as a separate group.
Tigers are solitary hunters. Each adult holds a large home range in the forest and marks it with scent and scratches. Malayan tigers feed mainly on large prey such as sambar deer, barking deer and wild pigs, and they usually hunt at night or in the dim light of dawn and dusk, stalking close before a short, powerful rush.
Cubs are born blind and helpless in a hidden den. They stay with their mother for about two years while they learn to hunt, then leave to find a range of their own. In thick rainforest tigers are very hard to see, so researchers study them mostly with camera traps.
Conservation
The Malayan tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on an assessment made in 2015. A camera trap study published in 2014 estimated that between 250 and 340 tigers lived in the areas surveyed, and later work suggests numbers have kept falling in some forests. In the Belum-Temengor forest complex, a study found that tiger numbers dropped by about 60 percent over seven to eight years.
The two biggest threats are poaching and the loss of forest. Wire snares set for other animals, or for tigers themselves, catch and kill many big cats, and patrols have removed large numbers of snares from protected areas. At the same time, large areas of natural forest on the peninsula have been cleared, much of it for plantations, and roads have split up the forest that remains. Tigers also suffer when the deer and wild pigs they hunt are overhunted.
Malaysia has responded with national plans to save the tiger, stronger anti-poaching patrols, and work to protect and reconnect the large forest blocks where tigers still live, such as Taman Negara and the forests of Perak. Conservation groups and volunteers also join forest patrols to find and remove snares.
Where to see the Malayan tiger in the wild
Wild Malayan tigers in Malaysia survive only in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia, where fewer than 150 remain, and Royal Belum State Park and the Endau-Rompin landscape are among their protected strongholds.
Royal Belum State Park
Royal Belum State Park in northern Perak received Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS) approval in 2023 for its work protecting Malayan tigers.
Endau-Rompin National Park
Endau-Rompin National Park in Johor lies in the Endau-Rompin landscape, where camera-trap surveys of Malayan tigers were run in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Watch wild animals from a distance, never feed them, and follow the rules and rangers of each protected area.
Fun facts
- The tigers on Malaysia's coat of arms have been part of the country's heraldry since the Federated Malay States in the 1890s.
- Malaysia's national football team is nicknamed Harimau Malaya, the Malay name for the Malayan tiger.
- Like all tigers, a Malayan tiger has a unique stripe pattern, which lets researchers tell individuals apart in camera trap photos.
National bird of Malaysia: Rhinoceros hornbill
Rhinoceros hornbill Buceros rhinoceros National symbol
The rhinoceros hornbill is widely recognised as Malaysia's national bird; it is also the state bird of Sarawak and appears on the RM5 banknote.
The rhinoceros hornbill lives in the forests of Southeast Asia, where it depends on large, mature trees for both fruit and nesting holes. A hollow, upturned casque, usually orange to red, sits on top of the bird's huge bill, and figs make up much of its diet. During nesting the female seals herself inside a tree cavity for weeks while the male brings her food, and deforestation has made the species Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List.
Other national symbols of Malaysia
- National flower
Hibiscus (bunga raya) Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Officially designated
The bunga raya (hibiscus) was declared Malaysia's national flower on 28 July 1960 by Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman.
Frequently asked questions
What is the national animal of Malaysia?
The national animal of Malaysia is the Malayan tiger (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). It is the tiger of the forests of the Malay Peninsula, and two of them stand on their hind legs on either side of the shield on Malaysia's coat of arms, holding it up.
Which country has the Malayan tiger as its national animal?
The Malayan tiger is the national animal of Malaysia. The same species is also the national animal of Bangladesh, India and South Korea.
Why is the Malayan tiger the national animal of Malaysia?
Malaysia has no separate law that names a national animal, but the Malayan tiger has a place of honor on the coat of arms adopted in 1963, and tigers on the arms go back to the heraldry of the Federated Malay States in the late 19th century. In Malay tradition the tigers stand for strength and courage, and the national football team is even known as Harimau Malaya, which means Malayan tiger.
Is the Malayan tiger endangered?
The Malayan tiger is listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List, based on an assessment made in 2015. A camera trap study published in 2014 estimated 250 to 340 tigers in the areas surveyed, and later work suggests numbers have kept falling in some forests.
Where does the Malayan tiger live?
Tropical rainforests and forest edges of the Malay Peninsula.
What is the national bird of Malaysia?
The national bird of Malaysia is the rhinoceros hornbill (a widely recognized national symbol, not set by law). The rhinoceros hornbill is widely recognised as Malaysia's national bird; it is also the state bird of Sarawak and appears on the RM5 banknote.
Where can you see the Malayan tiger in the wild?
Wild Malayan tigers in Malaysia survive only in the forests of Peninsular Malaysia, where fewer than 150 remain, and Royal Belum State Park and the Endau-Rompin landscape are among their protected strongholds.
Sources
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Panthera tigris ssp. jacksoni (assessment 2015).
- Encyclopaedia Britannica. Tiger.
- Free Malaysia Today: The majestic hornbill: Malaysia's national bird (2021).
- Tourism Malaysia: Appreciate the nation's unique biodiversity this Malaysia Day: fauna edition.
- Thai PBS: 6 national birds of Asia.
- Animal Diversity Web: Buceros rhinoceros (rhinoceros hornbill).
- MyGOV, Official Portal of the Government of Malaysia: Bunga Kebangsaan.
- MyGOV: National Flower.
- WCS Malaysia – Malayan tiger.
- WCS Malaysia – News: fewer than 150 tigers remain.
- The Star – Malaysia on the map for tiger conservation (2023).
- Journal of Threatened Taxa – Occurrence and daily activity patterns of ungulates in the Endau Rompin Landscape (2018).
- Bernama – Johor to make Endau-Rompin an official tiger protection zone (2025).
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
