Templer Park ( ms, Hutan Lipur Templer) is a

forest reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

in Rawang,

Gombak District The Gombak District is an administrative district located in the state of Selangor, Malaysia. The district was created on February 1, 1974, the same day when Kuala Lumpur was declared a Federal Territory. Until 1997, Rawang was the district cap ...

Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It is 1,214 hectares in size and it was named in honour of Sir Gerald Templer, a British High Commissioner in Malaya. "On 8 September 1954, His Highness the Sultan of Selangor, the late Sultan Hishamuddin Alam Shah declared that Templer’s Park was 'dedicated by Selangor to serve as a refuge and a sanctuary for wildlife and a meeting-place for all who love and respect the beauty of nature'. The following year the government gazetted the area as “a Botanical Garden and Public Park” under the land enactment (Notification 104-1955)". This forest reserve consists of multi-tiered waterfalls, jungle streams and trails. Several amenities are available in this forest reserve, such as picnic grounds, fishing spots, parking lots, public toilets and stalls. Wildlife that can be spotted in Templer's Park include the park monkey, the hawk-cuckoo, the

crested serpent eagle The crested serpent eagle (''Spilornis cheela'') is a medium-sized bird of prey that is found in forested habitats across tropical Asia. Within its widespread range across the Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia and East Asia, there are considera ...

, the

emerald dove The common emerald dove (''Chalcophaps indica''), also called Asian emerald dove and grey-capped emerald dove, is a widespread resident breeding pigeon native to the tropical and subtropical parts of the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. ...

, the forest wagtail,

malkoha Malkohas are large birds in the cuckoo family Cuculidae Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes . The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, co ...

s, the barbet, the

woodpecker Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar regions. ...

, the

flycatcher-shrike The flycatcher-shrikes are two species of small Asian passerine bird belonging to the genus ''Hemipus''. They are now usually placed in the Vangidae. Description They are in length.Robson, Craig (2002) ''A Field Guide to the Birds of South-eas ...

, the

blue-winged leafbird The blue-winged leafbird (''Chloropsis moluccensis'') is a species of leafbird found in forest and second growth throughout Southeast Asia as far east as Borneo and as far south as southern Sumatra. It previously included Jerdon's leafbird (' ...

, the earless agamid, the Malaysian crested lizard, various kinds of toads and snakes and serow (goat-antelopes). Studies by Malaysian Nature Society have confirmed that there is still a population of serow living in the vicinity. The cave, Gua Anak Takun, is home to a rare species of trapdoor spider, Liphistius batuensis. Templar Park is the type locality where the

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of sever ...

of the Malaysian spine-jawed snake '' Xenophidion schaeferi'' was collected in 1988. To date this is the only known specimen of this rare snake, which belongs in the obscure and primitive snake family Xenophidiidae. The family contains only one other species, '' X. acanthognathus'', also only known from its holotype, which was collected in

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory o ...

, northeast

Borneo Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and ea ...

. These snakes are harmless, nonvenomous, and thought to feed on

earthworm An earthworm is a terrestrial invertebrate that belongs to the phylum Annelida. They exhibit a tube-within-a-tube body plan; they are externally segmented with corresponding internal segmentation; and they usually have setae on all segments. T ...

s or insect larvae.

Threats from Development

The integrity and natural character of Templer's Park is under threat from controversial recent developments which are apparently either a.) adjacent to the park on former parkland which was sold to private interests, or b.) illegally taking place on actual parkland. Developments such as T-Parkland@Templer's Park by the company MCT involved the construction of high-end residences, a 17-story tower block and golf courses. In addition, currently some 50 hectares of ongoing deforestation is taking place for a road and more residences, which will likely impact the quality of the streams in the park due to erosion if this activity continues. Surprisingly, this activity seems to have the consent of the local planning authorities, where the site sign carries the license number 'US HS 3 2012 BALAK'. The authorities appear to be unconcerned about this steady loss of forest to developers and have 'yet to lift a finger' according to a local nature resource.

Accessibility

Templer's Park can be accessed from the Rawang exit of the North–South Expressway. The park can also be reached by taking the No 66 bus from Puduraya in Kuala Lumpur.

Incidents

In 2008, a Danish man went missing for 12 hours in Templer's Park before finding his way out of the jungle. He went missing at an altitude of 500 feet above sea level.

References

External links

Templer's Park Malaysia.
{{Authority control Gombak District Nature sites of Selangor