Pictures: "Lost" Deer, Rare Cuckoo Caught in Camera Traps

"Lost" Deer Found

Photograph courtesy D. Martyr, FFI/KSNP

The Sumatran muntjac deer species had been "lost" in the remote mountains of western Sumatra's Kerinci Seblat National Park until it was found in a hunter's snare in September 2007, as seen in a previously released photograph. (Related picture: "'Extinct' Bird Seen, Eaten.")

Originally discovered in 1914, the deer had not been seen since the early 1920s—despite the 3.2-million-acre (1.3-million-hectare) park's rapid conversion from dense forest to farmland, which is happening at a rate of one percent a year, according to FFI's Linkie.

The park is known as the attic of Sumatra, Debbie Martyr, head of FFI's program in Kerinici Seblat, noted by email, "because you can spend years in here looking for stuff and keep coming across all sorts of interesting things you never dreamed were there or had entirely forgotten about."

Published August 25, 2010

Cuckoo Surprise

Photograph courtesy FFI

After a 90-year hiatus, the Sumatran ground cuckoo was captured by a camera trap in May 2006 (pictured in a previously released photograph). Until that point, the bird hadn't been seen since its discovery in 1916. (Related picture: "Rare Cuckoo's 'Scream' Recorded for First Time.")

The camera traps also unintentionally caught bird poachers roaming the park, FFI's Linkie noted.

In one set of photographs, a hunter "obviously noticed the flash, because in the next frame, [he] passes the camera in the same direction, but hopping by in his underpants with a cigarette in his mouth!" Linkie said.

"We posted his picture on an online-dating website, but no offers yet," he quipped.

Published August 25, 2010

Tapir Pair

Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE

A pair of Asian tapirs are caught during a nighttime jaunt in Kerinci Seblat National Park in September 2006.

Listed as endangered by IUCN, the Asian tapir—also known as the Malaya tapir—has declined throughout its Southeast Asian range over the past 30 years. (See a picture of a baby Asian tapir at the San Diego Zoo.)

The species' decline is driven primarily by loss of forest habitat to palm oil plantations and other human land use, according to IUCN.

Published August 25, 2010

Cloudy Hunter

Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE

The Sunda clouded leopard (pictured in a December 2006 photo released last week) of the Southeast Asian islands of Borneo and Sumatra (map) was shown to be a separate species in 2007.

Previously the cat—now listed as vulnerable by IUCN—was believed to be of the same species as the mainland clouded leopard.

In decline due to deforestation, adult Sunda leopards now number fewer than ten thousand, according to IUCN.

Published August 25, 2010

Hunted for Hats

Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE

Widespread throughout Southeast Asia, the rhinoceros hornbill (pictured in Kerinci Seblat in July 2005) is dwindling and is listed as near threatened by IUCN.

In Borneo, for instance, the bird is shot for food and hat feathers by local tribes, according to the conservation organization.

(Related: "Puppets Help Raise Africa's Abandoned Hornbill Chicks.")

Published August 25, 2010

Golden Cat

Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE

An Asiatic golden cat pauses after a camera trap goes off in a July 2006 picture. (Related pictures: "Seven Cat Species Found in 1 Forest—A Record.")

Critters not caught on camera also pestered the team during their five-year survey, according to FFI's Linkie. For instance, porcupines ate one of the camera sensors and repeatedly raided food supplies during the dead of night, he said.

And, he added, "ants are always a nightmare."

Published August 25, 2010

Tiger Caught in the Act

Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE

In all, 189 tiger photos were captured during the survey (pictured, a tiger in December 2006)—making the Kerinci Seblat tiger population one of the best studied and best known among Sumatran tigers, conservationists say. (Visit National Geographic's Year of the Tiger site.)

"One of the real joys of camera trapping is that you get to identify individuals ... and, as important, get to see what was making the rustle in the undergrowth," FFI's Martyr said.

For instance, one FFI photographer discovered that a big cat had been following him as he set camera traps, Martyr said.

"He activated the camera, walked off, [and a] tiger walked through—not once but repeatedly, and always about four to five minutes behind him."

Published August 25, 2010