Borneo leopard a new species

KOTA KINABALU: Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat.

The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland South-East Asia, WWF said in a statement yesterday.

Separate species: A Bornean clouded leopard pictured in Borneo in this undated picture released by WWF on Wednesday. — Reuters

Researchers at the US National Cancer Institute say the differences between the Bornean and mainland clouded leopard were found to be comparable to the differences between other large cat species such as lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard.

They believe the Bornean population likely diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago.

“Genetic research results clearly indicate that the clouded leopards of Borneo should be considered a separate species,” said Dr Stephen O’Brien, Head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity of the US National Cancer Institute.

“DNA tests highlighted around 40 differences between the two species,” Dr O’Brien said.

“The moment we started comparing the skins of the mainland clouded leopard and the leopard found on Borneo, it was clear we were comparing two different species,” said Dr Andrew Kitchener, from the Department of Natural Sciences of National Museums Scotland.

“It’s incredible that no one has ever noticed these differences,” Dr Kitchener said.

The Bornean clouded leopard, numbering between 5,000 and 11,000, has small cloud markings, many distinct spots within the cloud markings, greyer fur and a double dorsal stripe.

It is altogether darker than the mainland species which has large clouds on their skin with fewer, often faint, spots within the cloud markings. They are lighter in colour, with a tendency toward tawny-coloured fur and a partial double dorsal stripe.

The news comes just a few weeks after a WWF report showed that scientists had identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants in Borneo over the past year.

The last great forest home of the Borneo Clouded Leopard is the Heart of Borneo, a 220,000km wild, mountainous region – about five times the size of Switzerland – covered with equatorial rainforest in the centre of the island.

Last month in Bali, Indonesia, the ministers of three countries – Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and Malaysia – signed a historic declaration to conserve and manage the Heart of Borneo in a sustainable manner.


source: The Star Online
date: March 16, 2007