G'day All,
The following article found in the British Telegraph -
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=DWGBJCQ3PQLOTQFIQMFCFFOAVCBQYIV0?xml=/news/2005/12/06/wcat06.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/06/ixworld.html
reports the discovery of a possible new mammal species. Very interesting -
but very sad to hear of ongoing habitat loss.
Regards,
Chris Coleborn
________________________________
Race against time to study mysterious new species
By Richard Alleyne
(Filed: 06/12/2005) BRITISH TELEGRAPH
A mysterious creature has been discovered deep in an endangered rainforest,
the wildlife charity WWF said yesterday.
The animal, which is believed to be a mammal slightly larger than a cat, has
red fur and a long bushy tail and was photographed twice by a hidden camera
at night.
Researchers believe it could be the first new carnivorous mammal to be found
on Borneo, which has one of the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth, for
more than a century.
It is incredibly rare to find a new mammal species of this size,
particularly a carnivore. It is thought that it may be a species of marten
or civet cat, but there is also the possibility that it will be an entirely
new group.
But excited scientists, who fear that it could be extinct before they have
had a chance to study it because its natural habitat is being destroyed at
such a rate, are now in a race against time to catch a live specimen.
Stephan Wulffraat, the biologist who is co-ordinating WWF research on the
animal, said: "We showed the photo of the animal to locals who know the
wildlife of the area, but nobody had ever seen this creature before.
"We also consulted several Bornean wildlife experts. Some thought it looked
like a lemur but most were convinced it was a carnivore."
There is a major risk that it might remain a mystery forever as its habitat
is seriously threatened, he added.
The area where the animal was photographed, Kayan Mentarang National Park in
Kalimantan, the Indonesian side of the island, is a mountainous region
covered by rainforest. It is part of WWF's Heart of Borneo initiative aiming
to assist the island's three nations - Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia - to
conserve more than 22 million hectares of rainforest.
But the Indonesian government wants to create the world's largest palm oil
plantation there, a project covering an area half the size of the
Netherlands which WWF says would devastate forests, wildlife and indigenous
communities.
Callum Rankine, the head of species for WWF-UK, said: "This creature,
whatever it is, has not been seen since the pictures were taken and is
therefore likely to occur in very low numbers. "It would be a tragedy if it
became extinct before it was even described to science."
The animal, which the scientists are convinced is a carnivore because of its
teeth, is described in a new WWF publication, Lalut Birai - The ecology of a
rainforest in the Heart of Borneo, by Mr Wulffraat.
The last major species to be discovered in the region was the ferret-badger
found by the Victorian explorer Alfred Hart Everett in 1895.
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