NEW CARNIVORE SPECIES IN BORNEO?

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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=1378058

ABC News Borneo's Catlike Animal Likely New Species

Catlike Creature Photographed on Borneo Likely New Species of Carnivore,

World Wildlife Fund Says

 

This artist impression released by World Wildlife Fund Indonesia shows a

possible new species of mammal, called Red Bornean carnivore. The catlike

creature photographed by camera traps in Kayan Mentarang National Park on

the Indonesian side of Borneo island is likely to be a new species of

carnivore, the World Wildlife Fund said Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2005. If confirmed,

the animal - which has dark red fur and a long, bushy tail - would be first

new carnivore species discovered on the island since 1895, when the Borneo

ferret-badger was found, the fund said. (AP Photo/World Wildlife Fund

Indonesia, Wahyu Gumelar, HO)

[image: The Associated Press]The Associated Press

 

*JAKARTA, Indonesia Dec 6, 2005 *— A catlike creature photographed by camera

traps on Borneo Island is likely to be a new species of carnivore, the World

Wildlife Fund said Tuesday.

 

If confirmed, the animal which has dark red fur and a long, bushy tail would

be first new carnivore species discovered on the island since 1895, when the

Borneo ferret-badger was found, the fund said.

 

Cameras set up to photograph wildlife in Kayan Mentarang National Park on

the Indonesian side of Borneo island have twice captured images of the

animal, said Stephan Wulffraat, a Dutch biologist who is coordinating the

WWF's research into the species.

 

" We have consulted several Bornean wildlife experts. Some thought it looked

like a lemur, but most were convinced it was a new species of carnivore, "

Wulffraat said. " Until we have a live specimen in our hands, we can't be 100

percent sure. Now, I'm only 90 percent sure. "

 

Since 1994, researchers have found more than 360 new species on Borneo

island, most of them insects and plants.

 

The island, which is shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei, has some of

the most diverse wildlife on Earth, but its forests are under threat from

expanding rubber and oil palm plantations.

 

On The Net:

 

http://www.worldwildlife.org/