Photos: Cameras "Trap" Hairy-Nosed Otter, More Rarities

Out for a Stroll

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

A catlike otter civet is caught by a motion-sensing camera in Malaysia's Deramakot Forest Reserve. Ranked the most endangered civet in Southeast Asia, the mammal was among 20 different carnivores found in the 210-square-mile (550-square-kilometer) forest reserve during the recent camera-trap survey. (See pictures of a record number of cat species found in a single Indian rain forest.)

Throughout the otter civet's range, the wetland species has been seriously affected by habitat loss and logging activity, said study leader Wilting, whose team also took the first ever video footage of the animal. But Deramakot has been managed as a sustainably logged forest since 1997—and the project is paying off, according to the research team.

"These findings show that long-term sustainable forest management is of great importance for the protection of some of this country's most threatened species," said Datuk Sam Mannan of the Sabah Forestry Department.

Published July 26, 2010

Civet in Cat's Clothes

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

A Malay civet displays its catlike coat in a camera-trap picture taken in Malaysia's Deramakot Forest Reserve, on the island of Borneo.

Although the species is widespread in Southeast Asia, scientists are unsure of the Malay civet's exact population numbers. The species is protected in Malaysia under that country's Wildlife Protection Act of 1972, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The nocturnal hunter was one of five civet species recorded during the recent project in the lowland forest—despite the commercial logging operations that take place there.

Published July 26, 2010

Not So Camera Shy

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

A party of inquisitive Asian small-clawed otters seems to pose for one of the camera traps set up in Deramakot Forest Reserve. Using remote cameras and nighttime surveys, the study team recorded all three otter species native to Borneo.

Telling the otters apart wasn't easy, however, said study leader Wilting. "The problem is that when you see them, you usually just have a short glimpse," he said. "Even in our camera-trapping photos, the otters are very hard to distinguish."

The pictures were sent to the world's top otter experts for independent identification, Wilting said. (Related: "Eagles 'Cannibalizing' Other Birds as Otters Disappear.")

Published July 26, 2010

Badger Causing a Stink

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

This Sunda stink badger—one of 20 carnivores recorded via camera trap during the Deramakot forest study—is an animal to avoid: Like its close relative the skunk, the stink badger squirts an odoriferous liquid from its hindquarters when threatened.

"It can smell very, very bad," study leader Wilting said.

Although not a threatened species, the stink badger "has a patchy distribution, but we haven't really figured out why yet," Wilting added. Future conservation plans for the Sunda stink badger and other mammals in the study will be the focus of the first Borneo Carnivore Symposium, due to take place in Malaysia next June.

Published July 26, 2010

Otter-ly Sustainable

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

An elusive smooth-coated otter was among the mammals caught by camera traps in Deramakot Forest Reserve. The species is listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, which means it's facing a high risk of extinction in the wild.

While the study team noted a decline in otters and forest mammals in other logged areas, the sustainably managed Deramakot forest "still has a very high biodiversity of carnivores," Wilting said. "It shows we can use the forest without cutting down the biodiversity." (Related: "Orangutan Habitat May Be Gone in 15 Years, UN Report Says.")

Sustainable logging practices used in Deramakot include selectively logging large, high-value trees and keeping bulldozed logging trails to a minimum, Wilting said.

Published July 26, 2010

First to Suffer?

Photograph courtesy Mohamed and Wilting, Sabah Wildlife Department, Sabah Forestry Department

The recent camera-trap survey snapped this picture of a banded civet prowling the forest floor. Listed at "vulnerable" on the IUCN Red List, the catlike mammal is at particular risk due to rapid habitat loss across Southeast Asia.

"When the logging intensity is too high, the banded civet will be one of the first species that suffers," survey leader Wilting said. The species' presence "might be a very good indicator for less disturbed forests."

The new mammal survey findings appear in the current issue of Small Carnivore Conservation, the journal of IUCN's Small Carnivore Specialist Group.

Published July 26, 2010