Borneo Carnivores

 

The Kinabatangan Carnivore Survey Program is a new effort intended to advance understanding, and the conservation, of the threatened carnivore species of the Lower Kinabatangan floodplain. This new program is a Sabah Wildlife Department led initiative, working in close collaboration with the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC), Cardiff University, HUTAN, and the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU) at the University of Oxford and the Houston Zoo.

 

The goal of this program will be to define the distribution and conservation status of threatened Bornean carnivores within the Lower Kinabatangan Wildlife Sanctuary, and determine what factors affect their presence and abundance. The program is seen as a long-term initiative, and it is envisioned that future efforts will involve detailed research on Bornean carnivore structure, niche partitioning and individual spatial organisation and socio-biology. A high priority will be initiation of an intensive investigation of the flat-headed cat’s spatial ecology, and their use of and movement between fragmented segments of the Sanctuary. The program will also feed into a concurrent study led by the WildCRU and SWD, which will provide a Sabah-wide assessment of Sunda clouded leopard, Neofelis diardi, population density.

 

 

A closer look at the assemblage of carnivores found on Borneo:

 

Common name	Scientific name	IUCN status
Viverridae
Common palm civet	Paradoxurus hermaphroditus	Least concern
Malay civet	Viverra tangalunga	Least concern
Otter civet	Cynogale bennettii	Endangered
Banded palm civet	Hemigalus derbyanus	Vulnerable
Masked palm civet	Paguma larvata	Least concern
Small-toothed palm civet	Arctogalidia trivirgata	Least concern
Binturong	Arctictis binturong	Vulnerable
Hose’s civet	Diplogale hosei	Vulnerable
Prionodontidae
Banded linsang	Prionodon linsang	Least concern
Herpestidae
Short-tailed mongoose	Herpestes brachyurus	Least concern
Collared mongoose*	Herpestes semitorquatus	Data deficient
Mustelidae
Yellow-throated marten	Martes flavigula	Least concern
Malay weasel	Mustela nudipes	Least concern
Hairy-nosed otter	Lutra sumatrana	Endangered
Smooth otter	Lutrogale perspicillata	Vulnerable
Oriental small-clawed otter	Aonyx cinerea	Vulnerable
Ferret badger	Melogale everetti	Data Deficient
Mephitidae
Malay badger	Mydaus javanensis	Least concern
Felidae
Sunda Clouded leopard	Neofelis diardi	Vulnerable
Leopard cat	Prionailurus bengalensis	Least concern
Marbled cat	Pardofelis marmorata	Vulnerable
Flat-headed cat	Prionailurus planiceps	Endangered
Bay cat	Pardofelis badia	Endangered
Ursidae
Sun Bear	Helarctos malayanus	Vulnerable