WildCRU
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Finding 74 needles in a haystack - the search for camera sites is on
An understatement….. estimating the density of Sunda clouded leopards using camera traps isn't easy!
In addition to the physical challenges of deploying and repeatedly checking the network of cameras the statistical framework to estimate density requires that several (ideally at least 10) different cloudies are photo-trapped on more than one occasion (as many as possible). However, getting a cloudie on camera can be a rare event, requiring as much as 200 camera trap nights* to get a single photograph. Randomly placing your cameras will almost certainly result in zero photo-captures!
Clearly, finding the best locations to situate the cameras is of vital importance, and, ultimately will make the difference between a successful or unsuccessful density survey. A sobering thought! The problem is, finding the perfect camera site is like looking for a needle in a rather large haystack, and finding 74 such sites is a real challenge.
The Bornean Wild Cat Team, after a hard day cutting trails. Left to right: Jo, Sajaril (Itoi),
Remy, and Jasmi (Jas), (Andy -taking photograph).
Fortunately we have nearly 3 years of experience to help guide us, and there are certain tricks that we’ve learned along the way. For starters, when surveying for Sunda clouded leopards in Bornean forest old logging roads are like gold-dust. We’ve found that they can be prime locations to photo-trap cloudies and, in addition, they provide us (and, unfortunately, poachers) with much needed access to the forest interior. We’ve discovered that cloudies tend to favour travel routes that require less effort; natural ridgelines and well worn existing human trails (ideally relatively dry underfoot) can be hot-spots for cloudie activity, although these associations may also be related to hunting success.
Thus, on arrival in Tabin our first priority was to survey the area for existing (i.e. still drivable) and abandoned (i.e, not drivable and swathed in recovering forest) logging roads. We discovered two existing roads, one running north-south along Tabin’s western border and one running west-east for about 10 km through the centre of Tabin. The first road is used extensively by plantation contractors, and so the risk of theft would be too high to deploy cameras here, but it will provide much needed access along the Western border. Despite also posing a theft risk (although to a lesser degree) the second “Core Area” road will almost certainly be a clouded leopard hotspot and will thus be of such intrinsic value, in terms of getting photo-captures, that we will have to run the risk and have decided to place six camera pairs along its ca 10km length.
The search for abandoned logging roads is very much more a hit or miss affair, requiring plenty of guesswork and a lot of luck. We start by looking at a very course-scale topographic map of Tabin and try to guess where the old logging roads were built, typically along flat areas, ridges etc. and we then go out on foot and try to locate them. Frequently our searches come up empty handed, and we simply try to plot a course through the forest to the approximate area that we need a camera. We then search the area for the best location, set up the cameras, and then cut a 200m section of trail, centred on the cameras. We even sweep the trail clear of leaf litter and other debris, in an attempt to “persuade” the cloudies to use the trail.
Four wheeled drive vehicles and ATVs are a must for survey work in Borneo.
New team member, Jas (L) and Sajaril (R).
So how are we getting on? Well, as of the end of September we have already finished setting the first 37 camera sites – which required cutting over 60km of trail! We have been successful in finding several old logging roads, some good (e.g. one we’ve named Jalan Raya bagus = great logging road) and some not so good. We’ve found several very promising ridglines and are very optimistic. Watch this space for news of how we get on!
*A camera trap night is a unit of trapping effort. One camera trap night is equal to one camera operating for a 24hr period; so 10 cameras operating for 10 days equals 100 camera trap nights.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Felid survey of Tabin Wildlife Reserve underway
Having successfully completed felid surveys of the Danum Valley, Ulu Segama and Malua Forest Reserves, and the Danum Palm plantation, we are now focusing our attention to the wild cats within the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. Tabin is a large (1205.2 km2) area of predominantly logged over lowland Dipterocarp forest (logging ceased in 1989) with a central primary forest area of approximately 20.1 km2.
Map of Eastern Sabah, showing the Tabin Wildlife Reserve and commercial forest reserves to the north.
What makes Tabin particularly interesting is that it is almost* completely surrounded by a vast area of oil palm and cocoa plantations, and there are a number of human settlements in the immediate vicinity. All five species of Bornean wild cat are believed to be found in Tabin, although we know very little about the status of these felids in this reserve. Thus, Tabin serves as an ideal location in which to investigate wild cat status and use of these altered habitats.
Our base at Tabin; kindly provided by the Sabah Wildlife Department
A primary aim of our research in Tabin will be to estimate the density of the reserve’s Sunda clouded leopard population, and we will tailor our camera surveys to address this question whilst simultaneously gathering information about the other wild cats and wider mammal community. Following survey protocols developed for tigers in India we will deploy a network of camera traps over at least 120km2 of Tabin’s forest and attempt to photograph or photo-trap as many individual clouded leopards as possible within a four-month period.
An area of this size presents huge logistical challenges and so we will need to split the survey into two discrete sub-areas of around 60km2. Within each sub area we will deploy 37 pairs of camera traps, located so as to maximise the chance of a successful photo-trap. The last three years have taught us much about the best locations to place the camera traps, and we will need to draw on all of this experience as the favoured camera locations –old logging roads –are few and far between in Tabin, and so much the cameras will require extensive trail cutting and hiking in order to set and check the cameras.
We will keep you informed of our progress.... wish us luck!
* A small narrow corridor still connects Tabin to the forest reserves along the coastline.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Mammals residing in the oil palm plantations
In March 2009 the camera traps were moved to an oil palm plantation to investigate to what extent the Bornean wild cats, and indeed the wider mammal community, use plantations, and to estimate the density of leopard cats, which are thought to do well in this habitat. Our study site, the Danum Palm plantation is the southernmost tip of a vast contiguous plantation area, and is sandwiched between the Segama river, to the east, and the Ulu Segama and Malua Forests Reserves, to the West.
During the survey we recorded over 23 species of mammal that were using the plantation, although, importantly, some species such as the sambar deer and mouse deer were only recorded at the forest-plantation boundary. Bornean yellow muntjac and red muntjac were recorded in some areas, however, photo-capture rates of these species are lower than that from our forest surveys, which suggests that they may be found at lower densities in plantations. Bearded pigs, porcupines and Pig-tailed macaques were found in good numbers throughout the plantation, whereas long-tailed macaques tended to be associated with the camera sites adjacent to the Segama river.
Leopard cats were the most commonly recorded carnivore, although Malay civets and common palm civets were also frequently recorded. On several occasions photographs were also obtained of mongooses and yellow-throated martens. It’s likely that the high densities of rodents found in these plantations are being exploited to differing degrees by these particular carnivores. In addition to leopard cats we also photo-trapped a single male marbled cat, on 4 separate occasions, which is extremely rare, even for forest surveys. Crucially, as with the Samba and mousedeer, this marbled cat was only detected on the very edge (literally) of the forest. We found no evidence of the clouded leopard, bay cat or flat-headed cat using the plantation, although it should be highlighted that survey was too brief to conclude that these felids are not using the plantation.
Leopard cat photographed along one of the palm terraces (Top).
Yellow throated marten photographed along a gravel road(Bottom)
We have now removed all the cameras from the plantation, where they will be sadly missed by the local children who found them an endless source of fascination!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Mystery of missing leopard cats solved!
In May 2008 we captured our first leopard cat, an adult male, along the gravel road that leads to the Danum Valley Field Centre. LC M1, aka ‘Eddie’, was radio-tagged and tracked successfully over the next 4 months in the dense secondary forest of the Ulu Segama FR, moving a few hundreds metres each day and exhibiting a homerange of around 2km2, typical of our leopard cats. On the 13th of September 2008 we located Eddie resting close to an old logging road, but, as it would turn out, this would be the last day we would find him.In January 2009 we captured our 5th male leopard cat, with the help of Zara, from the Felidae Conservation Fund (FCF), and Paloma, our temporary vet from Peru. LC M5 became the first leopard cat ever to be collared with a (rather expensive) GPS collar, courtesy of FCF. This collar consists of a radio transmitter, but unlike standard radio collars this collar also records its position at predefined periods using the on-board GPS receiver, storing the data on the collar itself. To access the data we need to track the cat using the on-board standard radio transmitter, wait for the collar to fall off (via a fabricated weak point in the collar material), and then manually download the data to a PC. LC M5 was located near to the trap site the following day, but thereafter we have been unable to locate him…… until this week that is!
Earlier this year we moved our camera traps into an area of oil palm plantation located around 25 km from our main forest field site. In the 7 weeks that the cameras have been running we’ve accumulated over 400 leopard cat photos. You’ll understand our absolute astonishment when, whilst reviewing the recent photos from the oil palm, we discovered photos of both Eddie and LC M5! Both cats are still in excellent physical condition and the collars appear to be undamaged. So it would appear that both these cats have upped sticks and travelled over 25 km to a completely new homerange, which explains our being unable to find them over the last few months. Sajaril has just this minute returned from the field and has great news…. he and Remmy have radiotracked both cats in the plantation. It’s fantastic to catch up with our old friends!
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