Sarawak Forest Dept, researchers come across rare wild cat species

A team of researchers from the Sarawak Forest Department has came across a very rare wild cat from the Bay Cat (Pardofelis Badia) species in the forest of Lundu recently.

According to the department director Sapuan Ahmad, the studies on wild cat was part of a five-year research project in the Heart of Borneo area.

The Heart of Borneo located right in the middle of the island is a 22-million hectare of rainforest area shared by Brunei, Kalimantan Indonesia and Malaysia.

An illustration of the Bay Cat species. –Wikimedia/Zoological Society of London

In a statement here today, Sapuan said the species had only been recorded in the Mulu National Park, Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Pulong Tau and Anap Muput National Parks, all in the state.

The finding, he said, showed that the species was widely scattered.

"It also indicates richness of the biodiversity in our state forest.

"As such the state will make more efforts to increase the areas under its Totally Protected Areas (TPAs) from time to time," he said.

He commended the team under Dr Ahmad Ampeng for the finding.

Meanwhile recalling his experiences, Ahmad said the finding would open a wider area for researches on the wild cat based on the colours and physical body shapes.

"We need to do DNA studies to confirm if the species found throughout the state are different from each other.

"Admittedly, this is no easy task to accomplish," he said.