Borneo Rare Wild cats caught on Camera

A very rare individual cat caught on camera in the forests of Borneo. The bay cat, or also often called Bornean cat, or Kalimantan marble cat (Pardofrelis badia) is a wild cat endemic to the island of Borneo which is very rarely seen in the open. Unfortunately, videos of wild cats is recorded in the forest has been severely damaged and converted to plantations and logging concessions.

The Bay cat, Pardofelis badia. (Picture from: http://www.sci-news.com/)

The size of this adult cats is about 50 to 60 centimeters with a tail as long as 30 to 40 centimeters and weighs about 3.5 kilograms. Estimated to number less than 2,500 remaining in the wild.

Bornean red cat documentation is still very limited to date, after successfully photographed for the first time in 2003 ago, and even then only produce a fairly good picture of the red cat. In 2009, a number of experts for the first time managed to record this cat in video format.

Now a number of photos of these animals were collected back along with four other wild cat species, namely the Sunda Clouded leopard or often called the clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), the flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) and marble cat (Pardofelis marmorata).

The Bay cat, as one of the world's most elusive wild cats has been captured on camera in a heavily logged area of Borneo rainforest. (Picture from: http://www.theguardian.com/)

"We found that by placing camera traps at random in various places are very influential in the process of recording this species," said Dr. Oliver Wearn of the Zoological Society of London and Imperial College London, who is the lead author of the journal report the discovery of the bay cat that was published in scientific journal PLoS ONE.

These five wild cat species in Borneo is an important component of the forest ecosystem and also of significant value in line with the diminishing population. Of the five species of wild cats, four of which are threatened status according to the IUCN Red List which contains a list of animals that are endangered worldwide.

Until now, little information is collected about the Bornean red cat, but it is thought these animals are already on the verge of extinction. Red cat endemic to Borneo, which lived in various types of habitats. Start of swamp forest, lowland to hilly areas with an altitude of 500 meters above sea level.

In the mid 1990s, most reliable sightings have been reported from the Kapuas Hulu in West Kalimantan and in Gunung Palung National Park. One unconfirmed sighting occurred at an altitude of 1,800 meters on Mount Kinabalu (Meijaard, E. (1997) The Bay Cat in Borneo, Cat News 27: 21-23).. *** [EKA | FROM VARIOUS SOURCES | SCI-NEWS.COM]
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