Caught on camera: Borneo’s mysterious bay cat

Hardly anything is known about the elusive species

January 2012: Of the world's 37 cat species, some - such as African lions - are easy to see in their savanna habitat. Others however, like the jaguar, are rarely seen even by the researchers that pursue them. Yet few are as seldom recorded as the mysterious bay cat.

ELUSIVE: The bay cat has very rarely been seen – but was caught on one of Jedediah and Anthony's cameras. Picture: J Brodie and A Giordano

In the eyes of many researchers, this species is the epitome of elusiveness. Although scientists know that it is a small, slender, brown-colored felid that occurs only on Borneo, that's about all they know.

Cameras revealed a wealth of wildlife
So little is known about the species that the only thing the Field Guide To The Mammals Of Borneo can say about its ecology and habitat is 'Unknown'.

With much surprise, this species was recently - and for the first time - recorded high in the remote Kelabit Highlands of northern Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo. Jedediah Brodie, a Fulbright scholar living in Malaysian Borneo, and Anthony Giordano, the founder and director of S.P.E.C.I.E.S., a new carnivore conservation organization, visited the region in 2010 and placed 20 motion-triggered cameras in the jungle.

A year later, the photographs revealed a stunning wealth of wildlife; but most exciting of all was the bay cat, which was recorded at two different locations.

Borneo's highland regions becoming clearer
‘We've never known conclusively whether the bay cat occurred at this high an elevation,' said Brodie. ‘Our record is an important contribution to existing knowledge of this unique and elusive species, and to this amazing ecosystem.'

Giordano adds: ‘Although Borneo's lowland forests are without question a primary regional conservation concern, we are only beginning to learn the wealth of biodiversity that these highland regions harbour. The fact that we now know the bay cat occurs here could change the way we approach future efforts to locate it.'

Despite their greater elevation and remoteness, the Kelabit Highlands are still threatened by both legal and illegal logging. Brodie and Giordano conducted their work at Pulong Tau national park, which straddles the border with Indonesian Borneo.

Though the park has existed since 2005, in reality this protected area is no more than lines on a map, according to Brodie.
‘This is a "paper park" -with no budget, no infrastructure, and no staff, including no park rangers,' said Brodie.

‘Given that we have recorded such a rich mammal fauna, we urgently need to see that it receives the additional scientific attention and protection it deserves.'