Citizen science-based research has been used effectively to estimate animal abundance and breeding patterns, to monitor animal movement, and for biodiversity conservation and education. Here, we evaluate the feasibility of using social media observations to assess the distribution of small apes in Peninsular Malaysia. We searched for reports of small ape observations in Peninsular Malaysia on social media (e.g., blogs, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, iNaturalist, etc.), and also used online, radio, print messaging, and word of mouth to invite citizen scientists such as birders, amateur naturalists, hikers, and other members of the public to provide information about small ape observations made during their activities. These reports provided new information about the occurrence of all three species of small apes (Hylobates agilis, Hylobates lar, and Symphalangus syndactylus) in Peninsular Malaysia. Social media users reported observations of small apes in almost every state. Despite the fact that small apes are believed to occur primarily in the interior of large forested areas, most observations were from fairly small (<100 km2 ) forests near areas of high traffic and high human population (roads and urban areas). This suggests that most outdoor enthusiasts primarily visit well-traveled and easily accessible areas, which results in biased sampling if only incidental observations reported on social media are used. A more targeted approach specifically soliciting reports from citizen scientists visiting large, less-accessible forests may result in better sampling in these habitats. Social media reports indicated the presence of small apes in at least six habitats where they had not been previously reported. We verified the reported data based on whether reports included a date, location, and uploaded photographs, videos and/or audio recordings. Well-publicized citizen science programs may also build awareness and enthusiasm about the conservation of vulnerable wildlife species.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体报道对评估小猿的发生有用吗？马来西亚半岛的初步研究。

基于公民科学的研究已被有效地用于估计动物的数量和繁殖方式，监测动物的活动以及生物多样性的保护和教育。在这里，我们评估了使用社交媒体观察评估马来西亚半岛小猿分布的可行性。我们在社交媒体（例如，博客，Facebook，Instagram，Twitter，YouTube，iNaturalist等）上搜索了关于马来西亚半岛小猿观察的报道，并且还使用了在线，广播，印刷信息和口口相传来邀请市民鸟类学家，业余博物学家，远足者和其他公众人士等科学家，提供有关在活动期间观察到的小猿的信息。这些报告提供了有关所有三种小猿（Hylobates agilis，马来西亚半岛的叶状体lar和Symphlangus syndactylus）。社交媒体用户报告了几乎每个州都观察到的小猿猴。尽管事实证明小猿猴主要发生在大森林地区的内部，但大多数观察结果是来自交通繁忙和人口众多的地区（道路和城市地区）附近的相当小（小于100 km2）的森林。这表明大多数户外运动爱好者主要是在出差旅行且容易到达的区域，如果仅使用社交媒体上报道的偶然观察结果，则会导致抽样偏颇。一种更具针对性的方法，特别是征集公民科学家访问大型，人迹罕至的森林的报告，可能会导致在这些栖息地中进行更好的采样。社交媒体报道表明，在至少六个以前没有报道过的栖息地中存在小猿类。我们根据报告中是否包含日期，位置以及上传的照片，视频和/或音频记录来验证报告的数据。广为宣传的公民科学计划还可以提高人们对保护脆弱野生动植物种的意识和热情。