Despite the size of the Kebun Cina Forest Reserve which is only 148.6 ha and its urban location within only five miles from the Sandakan Nature City, some relatively large and interesting mammals are found in this green lung of the town. These include the sambar deer (Payau), barking deer, mouse deer, pangolins, civets and the red-leaf monkeys.

The sambar deer ( Cervus unicolor ) is the largest deer in Sabah, with a shoulder height of about 120 cm, and weighs 120-200 kg. It is brown in colour, sometimes from reddish brown to almost black. This species is often found solitary but at times, can be in herd from five to ten. In this small forest, it was reported to be in a group of two to three. The barking deer ( Muntiacus muntjak ) is much smaller, with a shoulder height of 40-55 cm, and weight of about 20 kg.

The name ‘barking deer' comes from the loud noise, between a cough and a grunt, uttered by the male, apparently as a sexual call to attract the female. The deer is solitary.

There are two species of mouse deer in Sabah, namely Tragulus napu and T. javanicus. T. napu is the greater mouse deer, which is slightly larger than the latter species. Both have very slender legs that enable them to dart rapidly among trees in the forest. They are nocturnal animals, browsing on low bushes, grazing on ground vegetation and rooting in soil and surface litter. Fallen fruits are also their diet.

The pangolin ( Manis javanica ) is an interesting creature because of its amoured appearance and defensive strategy of rolling up when disturbed. The entire body is covered with overlapping enlarged scales that resembles more reptilian than mammalian. Commonly known as the scaly anteater, it has powerful, curved and blunted claws for digging and tearing open the nests of ants and termites. The pangolin is toothless, but has a long, sticky tongue to lick up the ants and termites.

Civets are nocturnal cat-like animals, very common in forested habitats. There are nine species of civets in Sabah. Locally known as ‘musang', their pointed muzzle is an obvious feature, and some have patterns of spots or stripes but they are not related to cats.

Like the orang utan, the red-leaf monkey ( Presbytis rubicunda ) is covered with reddish fur. It is one of the commonest leaf monkeys in Sabah. As its name suggested, it feeds only on leaves. The leaf monkeys are distinguished from other macaques by their longer tail and hair.