Modelling the species distribution of flat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps), an endangered South-East Asian small felid

Assessing the status of wild felids in a highly-disturbed commercial forest reserve in Borneo and the implications for camera trap survey design

The proliferation of camera-trapping studies has led to a spate of extensions in the known distributions of many wild cat species, not least in Borneo. However, we still do not have a clear picture of the spatial patterns of felid abundance in Southeast Asia, particularly with respect to the large areas of highly-disturbed habitat. An important obstacle to increasing the usefulness of camera trap data is the widespread practice of setting cameras at non-random locations. Non-random deployment interacts with non-random space-use by animals, causing biases in our inferences about relative abundance from detection frequencies alone. This may be a particular problem if surveys do not adequately sample the full range of habitat features present in a study region. Using camera-trapping records and incidental sightings from the Kalabakan Forest Reserve, Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we aimed to assess the relative abundance of felid species in highly-disturbed forest, as well as investigate felid space-use and the potential for biases resulting from non-random sampling. Although the area has been intensively logged over three decades, it was found to still retain the full complement of Bornean felids, including the bay cat Pardofelis badia, a poorly known Bornean endemic. Camera-trapping using strictly random locations detected four of the five Bornean felid species and revealed inter- and intra-specific differences in space-use. We compare our results with an extensive dataset of >1,200 felid records from previous camera-trapping studies and show that the relative abundance of the bay cat, in particular, may have previously been underestimated due to the use of non-random survey locations. Further surveys for this species using random locations will be crucial in determining its conservation status. We advocate the more wide-spread use of random survey locations in future camera-trapping surveys in order to increase the robustness and generality of inferences that can be made.

A problem shared is a problem reduced: seeking efficiency in the conservation of felids and primates

Threats faced by mammalian species can be grouped into one of a handful of categories, such as habitat loss, unsustainable hunting and persecution. Insofar as they face common threats, diverse species may benefit from the same conservation intervention, thereby offering efficiencies in conservation action. We explore this proposition for primates and felids by examining coarse scale overlaps in geographical distributions, using IUCN Red List assessments of the primary threats posed to each species. A global analysis of primates and felids that face common threats reveals the greatest overlap is in Central and South Asia, where up to 14 primates and felids co-occur. More than 80% of the land where at least 1 threatened species of either primate or felid occurs also contains at least one threatened species of the other taxon, yet over 60% of these grid cells containing both threatened primates and felids lie outside Conservation International's hot spots. A review of IUCN Action Plans of the threats to felids and primates strongly supports the hypothesis that they are often the same and occur in the same place. In principle, steps to conserve big cats have the potential to benefit several species of threatened primates, and vice versa.

Wild felid diversity and activity patterns in Sabangau peat-swamp forest, Indonesian Borneo

A study to identify the felid biodiversity of the Sabangau Forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, was initiated in May 2008 and involved continuous sampling until October 2009. A total of 44 cameras in 27 locations were used and 5,777 functional trap nights (of 6,542 survey nights) resulted in confirmed sightings of the Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa, leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata and flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps, representing four of the five wild felids of Borneo. The long-term use of fixed and roving cameras provided insight into the movements, occurrence and activity patterns of these elusive felids within a disturbed peat-swamp forest. In an area of 145 km2 (including buffer) the clouded leopard was the most commonly photographed felid (22 photo-captures of 53 total captures), followed by the leopard cat (21), flat-headed cat (7) and marbled cat (3). A total of 231 camera-trap nights were required to obtain the first photograph of a felid, the leopard cat, 704 for the clouded leopard, 3,498 for the flat-headed cat, and 5,423 (476 calendar days) for the marbled cat. A female clouded leopard was not photographed until 5,764 trap nights. This highlights the importance of long-term camera-trapping studies to maximize capture probability of these elusive felids and especially to account for potential differences in home range size and use by clouded leopard males and females.