Can the jungle law save orangutans?

Panut Hadisiswoyo and Gunung Gea, Medan | Tue, 02/07/2012 10:52 AM

There have probably been at least 2,800 confiscations of illegally kept orangutans in Borneo and Sumatra since the early 1970s. In the same period, millions of hectares of orangutan forest have also been destroyed for plantations and other uses, and thousands of orangutans killed, starved and burned to death in the process. 

This species cleansing has occurred despite the fact that the orangutan has been legally protected in Indonesia since 1924. Quite simply, in the last 40 years the number of legal cases brought against pet keepers, traders and orangutan killers can be counted on the fingers of one hand. 

There was a case in November 2006 of people shooting a Sumatran orangutan (62 times with an air rifle) that had been released at the edge of Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Jambi in October 2004. Six villagers received six-month jail sentences, but later the prison term was extended to eight months. Leuser, the orangutan in question, is now residing at a quarantine center run by the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Program (SOCP) near Medan, in North Sumatra. He still has 48 air rifle pellets in his body and is blind in both eyes due to pellets lodged there. 

There were also two prosecutions in June 2010 of people trading orangutans illegally in West Kalimantan. The seller was sentenced to eight months in prison and fined Rp 1 million (US$110). The buyer received a meager one month and 15 days in prison. A third person involved managed to evade prosecution altogether.

Yet, seemingly all of a sudden, a number of legal actions in support of orangutan conservation are finally hitting the headlines. 

Many people will have seen recent articles in the media concerning the brutal killing of orangutans on an oil palm plantation in East Kalimantan, where they were slaughtered en masse for a bounty paid by the Malaysian company PT Khaleda Agroprima Malindo (PT KAM). For each orangutan killed, workers were allegedly paid Rp 1 million. This is an extremely shocking and disturbing case, but it is also an open secret that such practices are commonplace on new plantations. 

An article on Dec. 9, 2011 in The Jakarta Post showed how the remains of more slaughtered orangutans were found in a concession belonging to PT Sarana Titian Permata II, part of the Wilmar International group, in Central Kalimantan. But no one there has yet been arrested or charged.

While the PT KAM case has attracted media attention, very few people are aware of an ongoing trial related to orangutans in Kabanjahe, North Sumatra. It concerns Julius, a 4-year-old male Sumatran orangutan confiscated in Mardinding, Karo regency, in July 2011. Forestry police arrested a man, identified by his initial as S, who was transporting Julius and offering him for sale. Unfortunately, however, the alleged “owner” of the orangutan, identified as R, has not yet been arrested or charged.

The law relating to protected species is actually simple. Law No. 5/1990 on the Conservation of Biodiversity and Ecosystems states clearly that keeping, injuring, capturing, trading and transporting protected species are criminal offenses, carrying sentences up to five years in jail and a Rp 100 million fine. 

Nevertheless, it remains to be seen if Julius’ case in North Sumatra will be taken seriously by the three judges and the prosecutors. If not, and the defendant is acquitted, e.g. on some minor technicality, it really will reinforce the prevailing impression among conservationists that the Indonesian authorities, and society in general, really aren’t interested in protecting their country’s unique and exceptionally rich biodiversity.

Besides Law No. 5/1990, there are several other regulations that support orangutan conservation, which also seem to be routinely flouted and ignored. The Spatial Planning Law No. 26/2007, and its subsequent Government Regulation No. 26/2008, established the Leuser Ecosystem in northern Sumatra as a National Strategic Area for Environmental Protection. Presidential Instruction No. 11/2011 prevents the issuance of any new plantation and concession permits in primary forests and peat lands. 

As the Leuser Ecosystem is home to around 80 percent of all the remaining Sumatran orangutans in the world, and as the peat swamps of Aceh province have the highest density of orangutans anywhere in the world, effective enforcement of these two laws alone would be an important step for orangutan conservation. 

And so to another case currently making the news, in which it is claimed that a new permit issued for an oil palm plantation in the Tripa peat swamp forests on the west coast of Aceh, within the Leuser Ecosystem, is illegal, and that its issuance constitutes a criminal act or felony on the part of Aceh governor and a number of other key individuals involved in the process. 

The Tripa peat swamp case actually consists of several different legal initiatives. A consortium of concerned NGOs has challenged the legality of the new permit in the Court of Civil Administration in Banda Aceh. Meanwhile, representatives of the communities living directly in Tripa, already fed up with losing their livelihoods, lands and lifestyles due to the destruction wreaked so far, have reported the governor of Aceh, who issued the permit, the company that received it, PT Kallista Alam, and a number of others at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta. They claim the issuance of the permit is a clear contravention of the National Spatial Planning law. 

If these Aceh cases were to fail, the orangutan population in Tripa, recognized by the United Nations-backed Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) as critical for the survival of the species, will continue to be devastated and ultimately be destroyed completely. 

Perhaps for the first time, and long overdue, we finally seem to be seeing some clear sustained developments in law enforcement pertaining to conservation in Indonesia. But, it is probably too early to draw any solid conclusions.

Furthermore, even if convicted, the deterrent effect of these cases still depends on appropriate punishments being meted out. If sentences are too short or fines too little, it will once again bring into question the seriousness of those involved in enforcing the law in environmental and conservation cases. 

Panut Hadisiswoyo and Gunung Gea are respectively chairman and vice chairman of FOKUS (Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Forum

http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2012/02/07/can-jungle-law-save-orangutans.html).

Vet Student Gored To Death By Pygmy Elephant

A pygmy elephant has gored an Australian veterinarian student to death in a remote wildlife park on the Malaysian island of Borneo.


Jenna O'Grady Donley, 25, from New South Wales, was trekking with a friend and a Malaysian guide in the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah state when they were attacked by the rare elephant.

State wildlife department director Laurentius Ambu said the bull may have been startled and charged when the two tourists tried to take its photo.

While the guide and one woman managed to get away, the elephant's tusk pierced the other woman's body, and she died instantly, he said.

Ambu said that the women earlier trekked to a mud volcano but were disappointed that they did not see much wildlife, so the guide took them back another way and not on the main path.

Police are questioning the guide.

Mr Ambu said fatal attacks were rare, though single elephant bulls are known to be aggressive.


Jenna Donley's mother Liz Donley told ABC: "Bull elephants are fast, they can move with unpredictability, and they're aggressive and they're protective.

"This was an animal by itself and they startled it. This is an accident that's happened, a very tragic accident."

She said her daughter had a keen interest in large animals and had volunteered in Africa to help injured animals at a wildlife sanctuary.

Ms Donley was a final-year student at The University of Sydney studying a Bachelor of Veterinary Science.

It is understood she was due to graduate next week.

The elephant, a sub-species of the Asian elephant, is considered endangered, with around 1,500 to 2,000 left on Borneo island.


http://uk.news.yahoo.com/vet-student-gored-death-pygmy-elephant-023213709.html
...

Leaf Litter Ants Advance Case for Rainforest Conservation in Borneo

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2011) — Studies of ant populations in Borneo reveal an unexpected resilience to areas of rainforest degraded by repeated intensive logging. A finding which conservationists hope will lead governments to conserve these areas rather than allow them to be cleared and used for cash crop plantations.

Leaf litter ants are often used to measure the overall ecological health of an area because of the large number of species present and because the health of the leaf litter is a good indication of the overall health of the forest.

It is commonly assumed that repeated logging of rainforests has catastrophic effects on biodiversity. However, studies by Leeds ecologists in northern Borneo, where timber harvests are among the highest globally, have shown that in fact over 80% of ant species found in pristine, unlogged forest were also found in forest that had been logged twice.

The findings have implications for forest conservation as areas of forest where intensive logging has been carried out are typically thought to have little conservation value and are often allowed to be cleared entirely to make way for cash crops such as oil palm.

Keith Hamer, a Reader in Animal Ecology at the Institute of Integrative & Comparative Biology, led the study. He explains: "Rainforests in Borneo are managed through a system called 'selective logging'. In this system, not all the trees are harvested, only the largest, commercially valuable trees. This is supposed to be a sustainable system, but in practice the intensity of harvesting is often too high and areas are then liable to be logged a second time before they have had a chance properly to regenerate.

"These repeatedly logged areas can look awful, with big gaps in the tree canopy which are then invaded by grasses, leading to arguments that such areas are too badly degraded for conservation."
Dr Hamer added: "The logging clearly does have an effect on ant populations but it's not nearly as disastrous as might be expected. These areas are able to support much more diverse communities than oil palm plantations but large areas are still being converted. Preventing this needs to be a priority for policy-makers and conservationists in the region."

The study is part of the Royal Society's Southeast Asia Rainforest Research Programme and is published in a special edition of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society. It was supported by a grant from the Leverhulme Trust.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/10/111020105758.htm

On the trail of the crocs

THERE is an uneasy co-existence bordering on a love-hate relationship between crocodiles and the people, especially the Ibans, that stems from the belief that the reptile is the reincarnation of their mythical hero.

According to Iban legend, a powerful warrior named Bujang Senang from Saribas was born anew in the body of a crocodile after he died in battle some 200 years ago.

It is said when buried in the bank of the Saribas River, he transformed into a huge white crocodile that, according to native folklore, still rules the river basin today.

Bujang Senang had vowed to seek revenge on his enemies and their descendants in his reptilian form. Some people still believe that accounted for the periodic crocodile attacks in the Saribas area.
Generally, those living by crocodile-infested rivers believe there is some kind of truce between crocodiles and humans that keeps them from harming each other. Alas, this truce has been broken from time to time by both sides although the poor croc usually got a bad press when it attacked people while humans killing crocodiles hardly made a ripple in the news.

Bujang Senang is a relatively recent legend since crocodiles have been in existence for 60 million years. So the reptiles have been around well before Bujang Senang, the warrior, was born but the crocodylidae species may not be around for long if nothing is done to conserve them.

An effort towards this end is the International Crocodile Convention (ICC) to be held in Sarawak on Oct 19 and 20 when experts from East Asia (Australasian countries and Crocodile Specialist Group (CSG) will share information on crocodile conservation and human-crocodile conflicts.

The ICC will also assess conservation made by Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei and consider any proposal to downlist salt water crocodiles from Appendix I to Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species for wild fauna and flora (CITES).

Animals listed in Appendix I are totally protected from hunting as they are considered in danger of becoming extinct while Appendix II listing allows for quota-controlled hunting and trading of the animals so listed.

The ICC will come up with recommendations on crocodile distribution, habitats and risks on humans for East Asia- Australasian region with special focus on Borneo. It also will provide a avenue for capacity-building by Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) staff on crocodile conservation, research and human–crocodile conflict management, and enhance conservation and research programmes with renowned institutions worldwide.

The main speakers are crocodile technical experts in East Asia- Australasia region, CSG and the International Union for Conservation of Nature — Species Survival Commission (IUCN-SSC).
The ICC is organised and sponsored by the SFC in collaboration with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.

Read on...

Lost rainbow toad is rediscovered

A colourful, spindly-legged toad that was believed to be extinct has been rediscovered in the forests of Borneo.

Scientists from Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) found three of the missing long-legged Borneo rainbow toads up a tree during a night time search.

The team had spent months scouring remote mountain forests for the species.

Prior to these images, only illustrations of the toad had existed.

These were drawn from specimens that were collected by European explorers in the 1920s.

Conservation International, which launched its Global Search for Lost Amphibians in 2010, had listed the toad as one of the "world's top 10 most wanted frogs".

Dr Indraneil Das led a team that searched the ridges of the Gunung Penrissen range of Western Sarawak, a boundary between Malaysia's Sarawak State and Indonesia's Kalimantan Barat Province.

After several months of night-long expeditions, one of Dr Das's graduate students eventually spotted a small toad in the high branches of a tree.

Lost hope
"Thrilling discoveries like this beautiful toad, and the critical importance of amphibians to healthy ecosystems, are what fuel us to keep searching for lost species," said Dr Das.

"They remind us that nature still holds precious secrets that we are still uncovering."

Dr Robin Moore of Conservation International, who launched the Global Search for Lost Amphibians, was delighted by the discovery.

He said: "To see the first pictures of a species that has been lost for almost 90 years defies belief.

"It is good to know that nature can surprise us when we are close to giving up hope, especially amidst our planet's escalating extinction crisis.

"Amphibians are at the forefront of this tragedy, so I hope that these unique species serve as flagships for conservation, inspiring pride and hope by Malaysians and people everywhere."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14151541

'Newest' cat Sunda leopard has two distinct species

London, Jan 23 : The 'newest' cat species-the Sunda clouded leopard-exists in reality in two distinct forms, scientists have confirmed.

This big cat is so enigmatic that researchers only realised it was a new species-distinct from clouded leopards living elsewhere in Asia-in 2007.

Now a genetic analysis has confirmed that the cat comes in two forms, one living in Sumatra, the other on Borneo, reports the BBC.

Clouded leopards are the most elusive of all the big cats, which include lions, tigers, jaguars, snow leopards and normal spotted leopards.

Until 2006, all clouded leopards were thought to belong to a single species.

As well as the better-known clouded leopard living on the Asian mainland (Neofelis nebulosa), scientists determined that a separate clouded leopard species lives on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

The two species are thought to have diverged over one million years ago.

This leopard is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), though it was previously and erroneously called the Bornean clouded leopard.

In 2010, a team of scientists working in the Dermakot Forest Reserve in Malaysia released the first footage of the cat in the wild to be made public.


Led by Andreas Wilting of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany, the researchers captured images of a Sunda clouded leopard walking along a road.

Now Wilting and colleagues have published new research, which reveals even more about this mysterious cat.

They sampled 15 Sunda clouded leopards living on Borneo and 16 living in Sumatra, conducting molecular and genetic studies to reveal their origin.

The researchers also examined the skulls of 28 further Sunda clouded leopards and the fur coats of 20 specimens held in museums, as well as the coats of cats photographed on both islands.

"Although we suspected that Sunda clouded leopards on Borneo and Sumatra have likely been geographically separated since the last Ice Age, it was not known whether this long isolation had caused them to split up into separate sub-species," explained Wilting.

But his team's analysis confirms that the latest 'new' species of cat to be discovered actually comes in two forms, a Bornean subspecies N. d. borneensis and the Sumatran subspecies N. d. diardi.

Their results have been published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

--ANI

http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-130646.html

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9369000/9369238.stm

'Newest' cat Sunda leopard has two distinct species

London, Jan 23 : The 'newest' cat species-the Sunda clouded leopard-exists in reality in two distinct forms, scientists have confirmed.

This big cat is so enigmatic that researchers only realised it was a new species-distinct from clouded leopards living elsewhere in Asia-in 2007.

Now a genetic analysis has confirmed that the cat comes in two forms, one living in Sumatra, the other on Borneo, reports the BBC.

Clouded leopards are the most elusive of all the big cats, which include lions, tigers, jaguars, snow leopards and normal spotted leopards.

Until 2006, all clouded leopards were thought to belong to a single species.

As well as the better-known clouded leopard living on the Asian mainland (Neofelis nebulosa), scientists determined that a separate clouded leopard species lives on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra.

The two species are thought to have diverged over one million years ago.

This leopard is now known as the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), though it was previously and erroneously called the Bornean clouded leopard.

In 2010, a team of scientists working in the Dermakot Forest Reserve in Malaysia released the first footage of the cat in the wild to be made public.


Led by Andreas Wilting of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research in Berlin, Germany, the researchers captured images of a Sunda clouded leopard walking along a road.

Now Wilting and colleagues have published new research, which reveals even more about this mysterious cat.

They sampled 15 Sunda clouded leopards living on Borneo and 16 living in Sumatra, conducting molecular and genetic studies to reveal their origin.

The researchers also examined the skulls of 28 further Sunda clouded leopards and the fur coats of 20 specimens held in museums, as well as the coats of cats photographed on both islands.

"Although we suspected that Sunda clouded leopards on Borneo and Sumatra have likely been geographically separated since the last Ice Age, it was not known whether this long isolation had caused them to split up into separate sub-species," explained Wilting.

But his team's analysis confirms that the latest 'new' species of cat to be discovered actually comes in two forms, a Bornean subspecies N. d. borneensis and the Sumatran subspecies N. d. diardi.

Their results have been published in the journal Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution.

--ANI

http://www.newkerala.com/news/world/fullnews-130646.html

See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_9369000/9369238.stm

Elusive Cat Once Thought Extinct is Alive and OK in Borneo

The gray bay cats captured in the recent photos are even more rare than the red variety,
seen here. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

by David DeFranza, Washington, DC on 01.14.11
Travel & Nature

Almost everything scientists know about the Bornean bay cat is based on just 12 samples, the first of which was a skin collected in 1855 in Sarawak, Malaysia. In the several decades following this original discovery, seven other skins appeared. It wasn't until 1992 that a living specimen was obtained. Then, after another was captured in 1998, the species disappeared.

It was widely thought to be extinct until a photograph was taken of a single cat in 2003. Now, the photographic record has expanded after three photographs, depicting two or three individuals, were captured by camera traps in 2010.

SLIDESHOW: 9 Species That Returned From Extinction in 2010

Wilhelmina Cluny, the research officer overseeing the camera trap project, explained:

This species is very secretive...it was classified as extinct until a photograph of it was taken in 2003...I do feel encouraged, this photograph was taken in a logged forest...when we saw this it made us wonder whether this kind of habitat can sustain wildlife, even for rare and important species like the bay cat.

Borneo, the only place on Earth where the cat lives, has 25 planned nature reserves. Unfortunately, only three actually exist and most—both planned and established—are threatened by logging and human settlement.

The IUCN estimates that fewer that 2,500 bay cats survive in the wild—but so little data has been collected on the species that conservationists are not certain whether the population is rising or falling.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/elusive-cat-once-thought-extinct-is-alive-and-ok-in-borneo.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

Elusive Cat Once Thought Extinct is Alive and OK in Borneo

The gray bay cats captured in the recent photos are even more rare than the red variety,
seen here. Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

by David DeFranza, Washington, DC on 01.14.11
Travel & Nature

Almost everything scientists know about the Bornean bay cat is based on just 12 samples, the first of which was a skin collected in 1855 in Sarawak, Malaysia. In the several decades following this original discovery, seven other skins appeared. It wasn't until 1992 that a living specimen was obtained. Then, after another was captured in 1998, the species disappeared.

It was widely thought to be extinct until a photograph was taken of a single cat in 2003. Now, the photographic record has expanded after three photographs, depicting two or three individuals, were captured by camera traps in 2010.

SLIDESHOW: 9 Species That Returned From Extinction in 2010

Wilhelmina Cluny, the research officer overseeing the camera trap project, explained:

This species is very secretive...it was classified as extinct until a photograph of it was taken in 2003...I do feel encouraged, this photograph was taken in a logged forest...when we saw this it made us wonder whether this kind of habitat can sustain wildlife, even for rare and important species like the bay cat.

Borneo, the only place on Earth where the cat lives, has 25 planned nature reserves. Unfortunately, only three actually exist and most—both planned and established—are threatened by logging and human settlement.

The IUCN estimates that fewer that 2,500 bay cats survive in the wild—but so little data has been collected on the species that conservationists are not certain whether the population is rising or falling.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/01/elusive-cat-once-thought-extinct-is-alive-and-ok-in-borneo.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+treehuggersite+%28Treehugger%29

Rare bay cat spotted in Pulong Tau national park

KUCHING: One of the rarest cats in the world, the Bornean bay cat (Catopuma badia) has been recorded in Pulong Tau National Park (PTNP)’s extended areas of Batu Lawi and Long Repung in the state’s northern region.


A statement by PTNP’s project manager Dr Paul Chai Pang Kiong said three images of the cat had been captured via camera traps by the Forest Department Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

The camera traps were sponsored by Sarawak Timber Association (STA), while PTNP’s Phase II project is supported by International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).

“The presence of the bay cat further heightens the importance of PTNP as a reservoir of the highlands’ rich biodiversity, of which many species are endemic, rare and/or threatened,” said Dr Chai in the statement. He said the bay cat is an endemic species categorised as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.

The bay cat is also listed in Appendix II of Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and is totally protected in Sarawak.

“A mature bay cat is normally the size of a large domesticated cat albeit with an extra long tail. It has two colour morphs, with the reds much more common than the greys.

“The last photograph of the wild bay cat in Sarawak was also captured by camera traps in Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in a joint study initiated by Unimas in 2003. Other than that, most other information consists of historical records, morphological descriptions and anecdotes from various sources,” he said. PTNP is located in Sarawak’s northern highlands in Miri and Limbang Divisions, northeast of Sarawak.

The park was gazetted in 2005 to protect an area of about 60,000 ha of pristine rainforests. It includes Mount Murud, Sarawak’s highest peak at 2,424m and the Tama Abu Range.

“It is the site for the transboundary biodiversity conservation project with the Kayan Mentarang National Park in East Kalimantan. The project is supported by the ITTO with Forest Department Sarawak as the Implementing Agency,” he said.

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=84401

Rare bay cat spotted in Pulong Tau national park

KUCHING: One of the rarest cats in the world, the Bornean bay cat (Catopuma badia) has been recorded in Pulong Tau National Park (PTNP)’s extended areas of Batu Lawi and Long Repung in the state’s northern region.


A statement by PTNP’s project manager Dr Paul Chai Pang Kiong said three images of the cat had been captured via camera traps by the Forest Department Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

The camera traps were sponsored by Sarawak Timber Association (STA), while PTNP’s Phase II project is supported by International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO).

“The presence of the bay cat further heightens the importance of PTNP as a reservoir of the highlands’ rich biodiversity, of which many species are endemic, rare and/or threatened,” said Dr Chai in the statement. He said the bay cat is an endemic species categorised as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)’s Red List.

The bay cat is also listed in Appendix II of Convention on International Trade on Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), and is totally protected in Sarawak.

“A mature bay cat is normally the size of a large domesticated cat albeit with an extra long tail. It has two colour morphs, with the reds much more common than the greys.

“The last photograph of the wild bay cat in Sarawak was also captured by camera traps in Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary in a joint study initiated by Unimas in 2003. Other than that, most other information consists of historical records, morphological descriptions and anecdotes from various sources,” he said. PTNP is located in Sarawak’s northern highlands in Miri and Limbang Divisions, northeast of Sarawak.

The park was gazetted in 2005 to protect an area of about 60,000 ha of pristine rainforests. It includes Mount Murud, Sarawak’s highest peak at 2,424m and the Tama Abu Range.

“It is the site for the transboundary biodiversity conservation project with the Kayan Mentarang National Park in East Kalimantan. The project is supported by the ITTO with Forest Department Sarawak as the Implementing Agency,” he said.

http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=84401

Endangered Bornean Clouded Leopard Facing Habitat Loss

Bandar Seri Begawan - A Recent sighting of the endangered Bornean Clouded Leopard during daylight in a populated neighbourhood in Labi showed that the nocturnal wild-cat species are disturbed and facing habitat loss, a wildlife expert said yesterday.


One of the most elusive animals in the world, the Clouded Leopard inhabits dense forests.

But on October 31 this year, a local man managed to capture a photo of the clouded leopard, scientifically known as Neofelis diardi, behind his old house on Jalan Labi Lama in Mukim Labi, in Belait District.

Dr Joseph Charles, a senior lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam's (UBD) Biology Department and project leader of a faunal biodiversity survey in the forests of Sg Ingei in Belait, commented that the surrounding of the house where the picture was taken was of secondary forest.

"You see in the picture, the cat was walking on a fallen tree trunk, surrounded by bushes and further up there is a forest, so when it comes down there (closer to a neighbour-hood), it's because the forest is gone," he explained to The Brunei Times.

He added: "This animal is nocturnal, if they come down to the place (a neighbourhood), either it's hungry, couldn't sleep anywhere in peace (or) is very disturbed."

Sharing his sighting with the paper, Adi Aizal said he and his family were cleaning up the old house which belong to the family when he saw the leopard climbed down a tree.

"We were at the back of the old family house, clearing and cleaning up when I realised there were some noise and movements up in the trees," said the 34-year-old.

"When it came down, the tail was as long as its body, so it was actually very surreal to me, as I've never seen a cat as big as this before," said Adi, who never knew the existence of the leopard before die sighting.

He then ran to his car to get his camera and took a picture of the cat.


"It looked dazed, as if it just woke up. It was looking at us for a good one or two minutes, then walked away," said the Kuala Belait native who is a helicopter pilot with Bristow Helicopters International operating in Libya.

After the sighting, he searched for information of the leopard on the Internet and contacted an administration member of the Sg Ingei project to inform them about his sighting.

Dr Charles had earlier said that a team would come back to the location of the sighting in January next year to set up camera traps and collect data of the animal.

Deforestation in the tropical regions of Southeast Asia is the most serious threat to the clouded leopard.

The species natural habitat has been fragmented and decreasing at a rate of 10 per cent a year since 1997, according to an information on the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

http://www.brudirect.com/index.php/2010121835537/Local-News/endangered-bornean-clouded-leopard-facing-habitat-loss.html

Endangered Bornean Clouded Leopard Facing Habitat Loss

Bandar Seri Begawan - A Recent sighting of the endangered Bornean Clouded Leopard during daylight in a populated neighbourhood in Labi showed that the nocturnal wild-cat species are disturbed and facing habitat loss, a wildlife expert said yesterday.


One of the most elusive animals in the world, the Clouded Leopard inhabits dense forests.

But on October 31 this year, a local man managed to capture a photo of the clouded leopard, scientifically known as Neofelis diardi, behind his old house on Jalan Labi Lama in Mukim Labi, in Belait District.

Dr Joseph Charles, a senior lecturer at Universiti Brunei Darussalam's (UBD) Biology Department and project leader of a faunal biodiversity survey in the forests of Sg Ingei in Belait, commented that the surrounding of the house where the picture was taken was of secondary forest.

"You see in the picture, the cat was walking on a fallen tree trunk, surrounded by bushes and further up there is a forest, so when it comes down there (closer to a neighbour-hood), it's because the forest is gone," he explained to The Brunei Times.

He added: "This animal is nocturnal, if they come down to the place (a neighbourhood), either it's hungry, couldn't sleep anywhere in peace (or) is very disturbed."

Sharing his sighting with the paper, Adi Aizal said he and his family were cleaning up the old house which belong to the family when he saw the leopard climbed down a tree.

"We were at the back of the old family house, clearing and cleaning up when I realised there were some noise and movements up in the trees," said the 34-year-old.

"When it came down, the tail was as long as its body, so it was actually very surreal to me, as I've never seen a cat as big as this before," said Adi, who never knew the existence of the leopard before die sighting.

He then ran to his car to get his camera and took a picture of the cat.


"It looked dazed, as if it just woke up. It was looking at us for a good one or two minutes, then walked away," said the Kuala Belait native who is a helicopter pilot with Bristow Helicopters International operating in Libya.

After the sighting, he searched for information of the leopard on the Internet and contacted an administration member of the Sg Ingei project to inform them about his sighting.

Dr Charles had earlier said that a team would come back to the location of the sighting in January next year to set up camera traps and collect data of the animal.

Deforestation in the tropical regions of Southeast Asia is the most serious threat to the clouded leopard.

The species natural habitat has been fragmented and decreasing at a rate of 10 per cent a year since 1997, according to an information on the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) website. -- Courtesy of The Brunei Times

http://www.brudirect.com/index.php/2010121835537/Local-News/endangered-bornean-clouded-leopard-facing-habitat-loss.html

Bid to save Borneo’s rhinos

Reforestation will reconnect areas of rainforest - enabling larger mammals movement again

November 2010: A long-term reforestation project to help save Borneo's wildlife has been agreed in Sabah. Borneo's unique wildlife, including endangered species such as the Sabah rhino, the clouded leopard and the orang utan, is threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation. The project is focussing on restoring and reconnecting degraded and fragmented forest land.

The Sabah Forestry Department is working with the Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF), a German-based NGO. Sabah officials say they will now ensure that the reserve and the restored areas will remain protected, excluding any conversion or logging in the future.


The core area of Tabin remains still untouched and represents one of the oldest and most diverse rainforests in the world. But the reserve is surrounded by oil palm plantations, restricting movements of large mammals. The restoration project of the Rhino and Forest Fund will increase habitat and reconnect patches of rainforest, enabling the movements and breeding of isolated populations, such as the pygmy elephant and the Sabah rhino.

Datuk Sam Mannan, Director of the Sabah Forestry Department said: ‘Forests are important for Sabah's climate and its rich biodiversity. They provide fundamental services to human well beings and therefore need to be protected and restored.'

Dr Petra Kretzschmar, co-founder of RFF, stated: ‘We see the charismatic Sabah rhino as a flagship species for the diverse lowland rainforest in Sabah. The signing is a major breakthrough to effectively combine the protection of endangered species like the rhino and the restoration of their natural habitat.'

The restoration work will start in early next year and will be expanded as time goes on.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sabah-rhino.html

Bid to save Borneo’s rhinos

Reforestation will reconnect areas of rainforest - enabling larger mammals movement again

November 2010: A long-term reforestation project to help save Borneo's wildlife has been agreed in Sabah. Borneo's unique wildlife, including endangered species such as the Sabah rhino, the clouded leopard and the orang utan, is threatened by deforestation and habitat fragmentation. The project is focussing on restoring and reconnecting degraded and fragmented forest land.

The Sabah Forestry Department is working with the Rhino and Forest Fund (RFF), a German-based NGO. Sabah officials say they will now ensure that the reserve and the restored areas will remain protected, excluding any conversion or logging in the future.


The core area of Tabin remains still untouched and represents one of the oldest and most diverse rainforests in the world. But the reserve is surrounded by oil palm plantations, restricting movements of large mammals. The restoration project of the Rhino and Forest Fund will increase habitat and reconnect patches of rainforest, enabling the movements and breeding of isolated populations, such as the pygmy elephant and the Sabah rhino.

Datuk Sam Mannan, Director of the Sabah Forestry Department said: ‘Forests are important for Sabah's climate and its rich biodiversity. They provide fundamental services to human well beings and therefore need to be protected and restored.'

Dr Petra Kretzschmar, co-founder of RFF, stated: ‘We see the charismatic Sabah rhino as a flagship species for the diverse lowland rainforest in Sabah. The signing is a major breakthrough to effectively combine the protection of endangered species like the rhino and the restoration of their natural habitat.'

The restoration work will start in early next year and will be expanded as time goes on.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/sabah-rhino.html

Rare Otter civet filmed for first time in Borneo

By Matt Walker
Editor, Earth News

An elusive mammal known as an Otter civet has been filmed in the wild for the first time, experts believe.

Conservationists surveying wildlife in the Deramakot Forest Reserve in the state of Sabah, Borneo took video of a pair crossing a road at night.

Otter civets are a type of civet, small primitive long-bodied cat-like mammals.

The announcement follows the rediscovery of the world's rarest otter in Deramakot Forest Reserve by the same scientific survey.

"I guess nobody can say this with 100% certainty, but as far as I know this is the first video ever taken of this species," says Mr Andreas Wilting, leader of the Conservation of Carnivores in Sabah (ConCaSa) project initiated by the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) and performed in collaboration with the Sabah Wildlife Department and Sabah Forestry Department.

"I and my colleagues at least have never seen a video before."

Mr Wilting's team spotted the Otter civets (Cynogale bennettii) along a old logging road, watching as one fed upon an insect.

The Otter civet is thought to be the rarest civet species in southeast Asia.

As part of a two year survey of small carnivore species in the Deramakot Forest Reserve, the ConCaSa survey photographed Otter civets using camera traps on ten occassions.

More surprising, they managed to film the species in the wild on two occasions.

Otter civets are semi-aquatic, living in wet, lowland areas, a habitat that is being destroyed across much of southeast Asia.

Details of the latest finding have been published in the journal Small Carnivore Conservation, a publication of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Species Survival Commission.

Rarely seen species

In the same issue, the scientific survey team lists a host of other rarely seen small carnivore species spotted or photographed in the reserve.

Of Borneo's eight vivverid species, the researchers recorded six: the Binturong (Arctictis binturong), Malay civet (Viverra tangaunga), Common Palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphro), Small-toothed Palm civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata), Banded civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) and previously mentioned Otter civet.

Other small carnivores caught on camera were the Sunda stink-badger (Mydaus javanensis), and two species of mongoose, the very common Short-tailed mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus) and the Collared mongoose (H. semitorquatus), and all three Bornean otter species, the Smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) and the extremely elusive Hairy-nosed otter, considered to be the world's rarest otter.

Yesterday, the ConCaSa project released a photograph showing the rediscovery of the Hairy-nosed otter in Borneo by the same scientific survey.

Earlier this year, the same project released the first video to be made public of a wild Sundaland clouded leopard.

Many of these species are classified as globally endangered, threatened or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Of Borneo's eight vivverid species, the researchers recorded six: the Binturong (Arctictis binturong), Malay civet (Viverra tangaunga), Common Palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphro), Small-toothed Palm civet (Arctogalidia trivirgata), Banded civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) and previously mentioned Otter civet.

Other small carnivores caught on camera were the Sunda stink-badger (Mydaus javanensis), and two species of mongoose, the very common Short-tailed mongoose (Herpestes brachyurus) and the Collared mongoose (H. semitorquatus), and all three Bornean otter species, the Smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata), Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus) and the extremely elusive Hairy-nosed otter, considered to be the world's rarest otter.

Yesterday, the ConCaSa project released a photograph showing the rediscovery of the Hairy-nosed otter in Borneo by the same scientific survey.

Earlier this year, the same project released the first video to be made public of a wild Sundaland clouded leopard.

Many of these species are classified as globally endangered, threatened or vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Further steps to protect Bornean otters and other carnivores will be developed at the Borneo Carnivore Symposium, which will be held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia in June 2011.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8854000/8854529.stm

Amorous slug, orange snake among finds on Borneo

RIGHT: Dendrelaphis kopsteini

By VIJAY JOSHI, Associated Press Writer Vijay Joshi, Associated Press Writer – Thu Apr 22, 1:20 am ET

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – A lungless frog, a frog that flies and a slug that shoots love darts are among 123 new species found in Borneo since 2007 in a project to conserve one of the oldest rain forests in the world.

A report by the global conservation group WWF on the discoveries also calls for protecting the threatened species and equatorial rain forest on Borneo, the South China Sea island that is the world's third-largest and is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei.

"The challenge is to ensure that these precious landscapes are still intact for future generations," said the report released Thursday.

The search for the new species was part of the Heart of Borneo project that started in February 2007 and is backed by the WWF and the three countries that share the island.

The aim is to conserve 85,000 square miles (220,000 square kilometers) of rain forest that was described by Charles Darwin as "one great luxuriant hothouse made by nature for herself."

Explorers have been visiting Borneo for centuries, but vast tracts of its interior are yet to be biologically explored, said Adam Tomasek, leader of WWF's Heart of Borneo project.

"If this stretch of irreplaceable rain forest can be conserved for our children, the promise of more discoveries must be a tantalizing one for the next generation of researchers to contemplate," he said.

The scientists' discoveries include the world's longest known stick insect at 56.7 centimeters, a flame-colored snake and a frog that flies and changes its skin and eye color. In total, 67 plants, 29 invertebrates, 17 fish, five frogs, three snakes and two lizards and a brand new species of bird were discovered, said the report.

Borneo has long been known as a hub for monster insects, including giant cockroaches about 4 inches (10 centimeters) long.

Notable among the species discovered are:

• a snake that has a bright orange, almost flame-like, neck coloration that gradually fuses into an extraordinary iridescent and vivid blue, green and brown pattern. When threatened it flares its nape, revealing bright orange colors.

• A frog that breathes through its skin because it has no lungs, which makes it appear flat. This aerodynamic shape allows the frogs to move swiftly in fast flowing streams. Although the species was discovered in 1978, it was only now that scientists found the frog has no lungs.

• A high-altitude slug found on Mount Kinabalu that has a tail three times the length of its head. They shoot calcium carbonate "love darts" during courtship to inject a hormone into a mate. While resting, the slug wraps its long tail around its body.

The Heart of Borneo, the core island area the conservation effort targets, is home to ten species of primate, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and a staggering 10,000 plants that are found nowhere else in the world, the report says.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100422/ap_on_sc/as_malaysia_borneo_s_bounty

World's Longest Bug And 'Ninja' Slug Discovered in Borneo

RIGHT: This WWF Malaysia photo shows the "Phobaeticus chani", the world's longest stick insect

Jeanna Bryner
livescience.com – Wed Apr 21, 8:10 pm ET

An eccentric bunch of species have recently come out of hiding in the rainforests of Borneo, including the world's longest known stick insect - think two skinny pencils end-to-end, a slug that shoots "love darts," and a color-changing frog, scientists announce today.

The new WWF report details the 123 newly identified species that have been discovered since February 2007 when the three countries that make up Borneo agreed to conserve 85,000 square miles (220,000 square kilometers) of tropical rainforest, designated as the Heart of Borneo (HoB).

That's a rate of discovery of three species per month. Previously, scientists have estimated that there are about 2 million known species of life on Earth, and anywhere from 5 million to 100 million species that remain undiscovered.

"As the past three years of independent scientific discovery have proven, new forms of life are constantly being discovered in the Heart of Borneo," said Adam Tomasek, who leads the WWF project.

Here's an introduction to the new gang:

Longest insect - Measuring more than 1.6 feet (0.5 meters) in length, the world's longest stick insect, called Phobaeticus chani, was found near Gunung Kinabalu Park, Sabah. So far, only three specimens of the species have been found, all in the Heart of Borneo.

Fiery snake - Kopstein's Bronzeback snake (Dendrelaphis kopsteini) is about 5 feet (1.5 meters) long. Its neck is colored a bright orange, which fuses into an iridescent and vivid blue, green and brown pattern that extends the entire length of its body.

Color-changing frog - Called Rhacophorus penanorum, this small frog species, whose males grow to just 1.4 inches (3.5 centimeters), was discovered in Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, in the Heart of Borneo. Also called the Mulu flying frog, the amphibian has a small pointed snout and is unusual in that the species has bright green skin at night but changes color to display a brown hue during the day. Its eyes follow suit to change color as well. And while the minute animal may not fly with the birds, it uses its webbed feet and aerodynamic flaps of skin on the arms and legs to glide from tree to tree.

Spectacled bird - Named because of its prominent eye-rings, the spectacled flowerpecker has a grey body with bright white arcs above and below its eyes, a white throat and white tufts at the breast sides. Scientists think the flowerpecker is a canopy specialist, feeding off fruits high in tree canopies.

Ninja slug - This green and yellow slug (Ibycus rachelae) was discovered on leaves in a mountain forest at altitudes up to 6,233 feet (1,900 meters) in Sabah, Malaysia. The slug sports a tail that's three times the length of its head, which it wraps around its 1.6-inch-long (4 cm) body as if a pet cat. In fact, its discoverers initially planned to name the slug Ibycus felis, after its feline inspiration. Instead, they named it after the girlfriend of one of its discoverers, Menno Schilthuizen of the Netherlands Centre for Biodiversity 'Naturalis.'

Maybe there's more to the name than meets the eye: The slug species makes use of so-called love darts. Made of calcium carbonate, the love dart is a harpoon-like structure that pierces and injects a hormone into a potential mate. The dart could increase the slug's chances of reproduction.

"The distinction between slugs and snails is not so strict in that part of the tropics, because most of the slugs, including the new one we described, are semi-slugs meaning they still have a shell but the shell is so small that it can't retract its body into it," Schilthuizen told LiveScience.

And though they've found several new slug and snail species, Schilthuizen said this rainforest environment isn't ideal for the animals. That's because the soil is highly acidic, which dissolves the animals' limestone shells.

Overall, the Heart of Borneo is now called home by 10 primate species, more than 350 birds, 150 reptiles and amphibians and a staggering 10,000 plants that are found nowhere else in the world, according to the new report.

To keep these species and their lush home safe from demise, under the 2007 agreement, the three governments have committed to conserve and sustainably manage the area.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100422/sc_livescience/worldslongestbugandninjaslugdiscoveredinborneo