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| Clouded Leopard in Sabah |
Rare images of a Sunda clouded leopard and a Malayan sun bear have been taken by Danau Girang Field Centre, run by the School of Biosciences in Borneo.
The images were captured as part of the Centre’s Kinabatangan Carnivore Programme.
The School of Biosciences’ Dr Benoit Goossens, Director of the Danau Girang Field Centre explained: "It is a long-term programme which aims to provide insights into Bornean carnivore ecology and density and develop Bornean carnivore species distribution and habitat suitability models. It is crucial for us, wildlife conservationists and managers, to find out about what dispersal opportunities exist for these carnivores and other mammals within the fragmented landscape of the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, and how might dispersal corridors be protected, enhanced and restored. This is the reason that within this programme, we are monitoring a narrow corridor of forest, which links two forest fragments from the Sanctuary."
Dr Laurentius Ambu, Director of the Sabah Wildlife Department added: "The Kinabatangan Carnivore Programme, initiated by Sabah Wildlife Department and Danau Girang Field Centre, will intend to advance understanding, and the conservation, of the diverse carnivores of the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain. For this, we are collaborating with Andrew Hearn from WildCRU (University of Oxford, UK) who spent the last four years studying clouded leopards and other carnivores in Danum Valley and Tabin Wildlife Reserve. His experience with camera trapping is primordial for the success of this project."
The Lower Kinabatangan region is one of the hottest spots for biodiversity in Borneo. Home to all endemic wildlife species including orangutans, forest elephants, clouded leopards and sunbears, it is unfortunately fragmented by palm oil plantations. The research done here will identify critical pathways for wildlife travel and the areas that need to be protected or recovered for wildlife.
The programme is funded by Houston Zoo, Phoenix Zoo and Cincinnatti Zoo and Columbus Zoo.
The Danau Girang Field Centre allows researchers to better understand the mechanisms of endangered forests. It also provides teaching and training programmes for students from Cardiff, Malaysia and other countries.
To see the original article, please visit this link to the Cardiff University website.
