New research aims to expand our knowledge on the clouded leopard.
THE clouded leopard is the third largest cat species in Peninsular Malaysia after the tiger and leopard, but has remain little-known.
To date, there has been no published literature on the ecology of this species in Peninsular Malaysia that will provide vital information in the assessment of its conservation status. Nevertheless, the animal has been listed as “vulnerable to extinction” under the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Endangered Species. It is totally protected in our Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
Many Malaysians do not know that Malaysia is home to this beautiful cat, according to Christopher Wong, senior field biologist for WWF-Malaysia’s Species Conservation Programme.
Big cat: A male clouded leopard photographed by a camera trap in the Belum-Temengor forest, Perak. Little research has been done on this species. – WWF
Together with his colleague, Shariff Mohamad, he has published a scientific paper on the density and habitat use of mainland clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) in Belum-Temengor forest in Perak.
“In Malaysia, we have two species, the mainland clouded leopard that is found in Peninsular Malaysia, and the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) that only populates Sabah and Sarawak.
“While extensive studies have been carried out on clouded leopards in Sabah, our ecological knowledge of the peninsular species is still in its infancy. The density estimates that we have obtained in Belum-Temenggor is actually the first for this species in South-East Asia,” says Wong.
Shariff, also a senior field biologist, reveals that data on the clouded leopard was extracted from research designed to investigate the status of the Malayan tiger. This is because existing large-scale camera trap studies are mostly carried out on a flagship species like the tiger.
“When we gathered enough information on clouded leopards, we decided to analyse the findings to increase our scientific knowledge on this little-known, elusive species,” says Shariff. He says the number of clouded leopards can be counted based on their distinct and identifiable coat patterns, as with tigers.
He says the Belum-Temengor Forest Complex is the current focus for research efforts as it is one of the priority areas for tigers under the National Tiger Conservation Action Plan. He says how the clouded leopard elsewhere is faring is unknown because no studies have been done.
“However, we believe that they are widely distributed across other states, though they are less likely to be found in small, isolated forest patches. Just recently, I sighted one jumping down from a tree on the way to Gunung Liang, Perak.”
Wong says a more intensive camera trapping study to be carried out over the next two years to re-assess the tiger population of Belum-Temengor should also yield data on clouded leopards. They will also use data from a 2012 camera trapping study on tigers and their prey at Gunung Basor and Stong Utara forest reserves (both in Kelantan) to obtain population densities for the clouded leopard.
Elsewhere, he says University of Oxford is starting a study on the species in Ulu Muda Forest Reserve, Kedah. Student Laurie Hedges from the University of Nottingham, Malaysia Campus is looking at how clouded leopards are negatively affected by logging activities in the Kenyir wildlife corridor in Terengganu, using secondary data obtained from a camera trapping study.
Wong says camera trap studies also document habitat use, so this information can be analysed to determine the factors that influence the presence of a certain species. With clouded leopards, he says three possible factors were taken into account, namely the relative abundance of small and medium potential prey species, as well as large ones, and the distance of the wild habitat to human settlements.
“We found a correlation between clouded leopards and small and medium prey like pig-tailed macaques, porcupine and mouse deer, and small carnivores like civets. The more there are of these prey, the higher the chances of clouded leopards being present. It is thought that prey of such sizes are preferred by the clouded leopard over larger mammals like wild boar and barking deer, but we still need more proof to confirm its dietary habits.”
There is, of course, a downside to using secondary data from camera trapping work meant for another species. The location and placement height of camera traps, for instance, might not be suitable for clouded leopards, thus reducing the chance of them being detected.
Density estimates from camera-trapping, however, are still considered valid though they are more likely to be conservative estimates, says Shariff. An enormous amount of effort, time and funds is needed to conduct a large-scale camera trapping project, so, whenever possible, the data should be used for other species, says Shariff.
Wong says until and unless a proper study is conducted to investigate the threats to the future survival of this animal, conservationists and authorities could be missing out on an action plan to save this species.
“Clouded leopards can be resilient towards logged forests, often perceived as degraded habitats. It has brought about a dangerous trend with humans converting these so-called degraded lands into plantations or for other uses, while permanent reserved forests are cultivated with monoculture plantations,” says Wong.
Source : The Star Online
Date : Monday December 22, 2014
By : Lim Chia Ying
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