At long last we are beginning to churn through the mountain of camera trapping data we have been accumulating over the last few years and to turn it into conservation science. Our most recent paper, available from here, explores the terrestrial activity patterns of the Sunda clouded leopard and those of their potential ungulate prey.

I say potential, because at this stage we really don’t know what these cats are eating – in fact, we know almost nothing about even the basic ecology of these elusive felids. We have a number of anecdotes and sightings of clouded leopards attacking this species, and eating that, which tend to suggest that the clouded leopard has a very varied diet, feasting on a diverse array of mammals from monkeys to muntjacs. But we really don’t have a good handle on what constitutes the most important prey. 

Ultimately, the only way to answer this important question is to collect scat, and poke around to quantitatively assess prey composition – and this is something we are attempting to do right now. Another, indirect approach is to explore overlaps in activity between the predator and their prey – by making use of camera trap data. We might expect predator activity to be often in phase with the periods when those potential prey species are most vulnerable to their method of predation. For some predators, this may result in their activity patterns mirroring those of their prey, as has been shown in several felid-prey systems, but this may not always be the case.

With this in mind we catalogued the tens of thousands of images for clouded leopard and prey from across our forest study sites, and used some clever wizardry to construct models of each species’ activity patterns. So what did we find? Firstly, Sunda clouded leopard’s terrestrial activity was found to be primarily nocturnal, although crepuscular peaks and some diurnal activity was also evident.  We found that of six potential ungulate prey species, Sunda clouded leopards' activity patterns overlapped most closely with those of sambar deer and greater mouse deer.

Interestingly, we also found that in one of our forest areas where clouded leopard were apparently absent, bearded pigs showed a greater level of nocturnal activity, whe compared to pig populations living alongside the predatory felid. This finding suggests that bearded pigs may be prey species for clouded leopards and they are capable of altering their activity pattern in response to this risk.

One month into our latest survey and I’m pleased to report that things are progressing very well.  After a number of meetings with Sabah Parks, the State authority who manage the Crocker Range National Park, we settled into our new home in the village of Ulu Senagang, nestled just within the park boundaries and walled in by high ridgelines. 

As usual, our first task was to begin planning where we will deploy the camera traps within the park, decisions which are ultimately based on maximizing the chances of capturing cloudeds and other wild cats on camera, as well by the logistics of physically getting there. Our plan is to spread 36 camera stations over 150km2 – no easy task even on relatively even forest, let alone a mountain range. From talking to Sabah Parks employees and local people it quickly became apparent that the Park is rarely accessed (at least on official/legal business) and thus established trails are therefore few and far between, particularly on the scale that we’ll be operating.  

Our strategy, then, was to determine ridgeline formations from basic topographic maps, features which aid our movement and which we have demonstrated are used extensively by wild cats, transfer the spatial info onto our GPS units, and then follow the routes deep into the park, setting up cameras as we go. At this stage we had little idea of what the travel routes would be like, how open the forest would be, and thus how far we could reasonably expect to move each day. 

So, loaded up with several days of food, camping gear, camera trapping gear and our trusty GPS the team headed up out of the village and climbed to the first of several ridgelines that would take us northwest, and into the park. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, this was no gentle introduction to Crocker’s forests, and after a slippery and relentless 400m ascent, and with burning muscles, we eventually reached the relatively even terrain of the ridgeline. Once there we were pleased by how relatively clear the forest was, and although the trekking was at times pretty tough, we moved swiftly and set eight camera stations and covered a distance of over 24km in 4 days. 

Great!  Well, kind of…  Our rapid movement through the forest is largely because the routes we have been following are also being used by local poachers from surrounding villages, hence the relative openness. One month in, we have now covered over 150km of routes, and on all occasions, regardless of how deep into the forest we have travelled, we have always found signs of people, their camps, and snares and their shot gun cartridges.  Clearly the use of the forest by poachers here, in terms of area, is extensive. What is less clear is how many people and how much poaching is occurring.  We have found some great camera sites and are very optimistic of getting some wild cat photo captures, but the threat of camera theft by the poachers is very much playing on my mind.  In the next few weeks we will begin checking our cameras… stay tuned for (eventual (-: )updates 

Borneo’s Clouded Leopards Need You!

We are now busy preparing for what is arguably going to be the most exciting, yet toughest of our challenges to date, an intensive, clouded leopard focused camera trap survey of the mountainous Crocker Range National Park. 


To help us in our endeavour we are now offering volunteer placements for individuals to help us in the field starting September 2011. If you fancy experiencing the ‘real’ Bornean rainforest, learning new skills and helping us learn about the elusive Sunda clouded leopard, then read on...

What/Why? 

Our work is focused on providing basic, yet scientifically sound information regarding the Sunda clouded leopard and other threatened felids in Sabah to help guide viable conservation strategies for these species. As such, one of the core questions that we are attempting to answer is:

What is the distribution and conservation status of Sunda clouded leopards and other felids throughout Sabah, and what factors affect their presence and abundance? 


To help address this question we have developed a research approach primarily constructed around multiple 6-month camera trap surveys designed to estimate clouded leopard densities and felid community structure in areas of forest exposed to different forest management strategies.  Few data exist regarding Bornean felid communities in higher altitude areas, and so from September onwards we will be deploying our camera traps in the hill Dipterocarp and lower montane forests of Sabah’s Crocker Range National Park.


When?

We are looking for volunteers to start as early as the beginning of September 2011, but positions will be available throughout the survey – ending in February 2012.  You must be available to work on the project for a minimum of 1 month, although we will consider taking on candidates for shorter periods if they already have sufficient experience. Get in touch if you are interested and we’ll take it from there.

Where?

The Crocker Range National Park is located in the west coast of Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. At approximately 75km in length and 15km in width, it is the largest protected area in Sabah, comprising an area of 139,919ha, which is about twice the size of Singapore!  Altitude across the park varies from around 100m to 2050m at the peak of Mt. Alab, and consequently the park is swathed in a dense blanket of primary hill Dipterocarp and lower montane forest, See the Sabah Park's website for further details. 

Duties 

Volunteers will assist with all aspects of the project (see earlier posts on the blog for an idea of what we get up to), including, but not restricted to: mapping and creation of forest trails and incorporation of spatial data into a GIS, deploying and checking camera traps over an approximate area of 150km2 of forest, questionnaire surveys of local people, and photographic data management. 

Requirements 

We are ideally looking for candidates with (or currently undertaking) at least a first degree in an appropriate Natural Science, although this is by no means a prerequisite and we will happily consider keen individuals with a demonstrated interested in wildlife conservation.  Above all else candidates should have a high level of fitness and a willingness to work in a challenging environment.  The work will involve long and arduous hikes over difficult terrain, and will frequently necessitate camping for up to 6 nights at a time at remote locations, deep in the National Park. Volunteers must be able to carry 50+ litre rucksacks weighing upwards of 15kg. The ideal candidates will have some experience of the activities described above, although this is not essential as full training will be provided.  

Costs 

We will not ask for any contribution towards project costs but you must be able to cover both your own transport costs to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, and your subsistence costs (i.e., food and accommodation costs at field sites).  Contact me for more details of estimated costs. 

Further questions

For further information and to apply please email me

The usual suspects... A female leopard cat and her kitten, photographed close to  the border with an oil palm plantation.  Leopard cats were the only species of   wild cat recorded in this forest.

Rather worryingly our camera trap survey of the Kabili-Sepliok Forest Reserve has failed to detect the Sunda clouded leopard.  Is this a true reflection of the localised extinction of these felids in this small and relatively isolated forest block or simply our failure to detect what is actually there?

 

Camera trapping is undoubtedly a powerful research tool and can quickly produce indisputable evidence of a species’ presence in an area. Proving beyond doubt the absence of a species, however, is a rather more difficult affair, and the lack of any camera trap images obtained during a survey does not necessarily prove its absence.  This is particularly true of difficult to detect species such as clouded leopards.

Stray dogs were found at multiple sites across the whole of the forest.  Could their presence be one causal factor in the absence of clouded leopards?

Nevertheless, this was a relatively intensive survey involving a high density of 35 paired cameras sites coupled with an additional 14 sites at which video camera traps were operational. This effort resulted in over 39,000 images and video sequences, including the similarly difficult to detect sun bear. Given this effort, in my opinion, we probably would have detected clouded leopard had they been present, and thus I am strongly inclined to conclude that they are no longer found in Sepliok.  That is not to say that there are not any transient individuals moving through the area from time to time, but it seems unlikely to me that there is a resident population of animals living there.

Although unwelcome news, this is not altogether surprising given the fact that the forests in Sepliok have been reduced to about the size of a single clouded leopard’s home range – ca 40 km2.  Although unwelcome, this finding is another piece in the puzzle to understand what factors control the distribution of this felid on Borneo.

Whilst it's not great news for Sepliok's Sunda clouded leopards, a number of Bornean carnivores were detected in this forest, including leopard cats, sun bears, common and banded palm civets, and yellow throated martens (see video sequence above). Potential prey species including mouse deer, yellow muntjac, sambar deer and bearded pigs were present in apparently good numbers.

Our team will now conduct an extensive questionnaire survey of the Sabah Wildlife and Forestry Department officers working in this area, in an attempt to determine when this species was reliably last seen.  Meanwhile, we have recently moved our camera traps to an area of oil palm plantation immediately to the west of Sepilok, to investigate what species are using this highly modified habitat.

Our team cannot be accused of hanging around.  Having unloaded the last of our gear from the Danau Girang Field Centre’s boat to our trusty truck, we waved goodbye to the mighty Kinabatangan river and set off in search of our next survey site: The Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve. 

The Kabili-Sepilok Forest Reserve and the adjacent Sepilok Forest Reserve (typically collectively referred to as Sepilok) is an incredibly interesting forest. Home to the world famous Sepilok Orang Utan Rehabilitation Centre, and just a stone’s throw from Sabah’s second largest city, Sandakan, it is home to a diverse array of forest formations and wildlife. Hill Dipterocarp, riverine, Kerangas (heath), and mangrove forests all jostle for space in this relatively small (km²) and isolated forest fragment.  And therein lies the potential problem for its felid inhabitants. Surrounding this matrix of forest, and forming the northern, eastern and western borders, is an assortment  of anthropogenically modified habitats, predominated by oil palm, but also including orchards, industrial areas and housing (see below).  Beyond the mangroves to the south lies the Sepilok Sea, and in the far south west corner a narrow corridor of mangrove links the Sepilok fragment to an extensive area of mangrove that reaches, albeit broken in places, to the mouth of the lower Kinabatangan.

Does this mangrove constitute a corridor connecting wild felid populations between Sepilok and the Kinabatangan, and if not, is Sepilok large enough to support viable populations of clouded leopards and other felids?  What species of wild cat still persist here? Over the next few months we will attempt to shed light on these important questions.  Wish us luck!