The Leopard Cat

The Leopard Cat Prionailurus bengalensis (synonym Felis bengalensis) is the commonest wild cat in Borneo although few people have actually seen it. This is because it is a nocturnal animal that is active only at night and spends the day in a den that may be a hollow tree, a cavity under roots or a small cave. It lives and breeds mainly in forests and secondary jungle, as well as plantations and farms near the jungle feeding on rodents, reptiles, small birds, insects, frogs and even sometimes fish – almost anything that it can catch.

It is a beautiful domestic cat-sized animal that looks very much like a mini leopard! But to see it we have to go into the jungle or drive along jungle side roads or in plantations with a bright torch or spot light. That is how I managed to get my photographs.

It looks so cute that many people are tempted to catch them to keep as pets but as everybody knows wild caught animals do not make good pets and could only be kept cruelly imprisoned in a cage. However if you still like to keep a domesticared mini leopard in your home it is possible to buy a Bengal Cat which is a commercially produced by interbreeding a house cat with a P. bengalensis. You may be interested to look at this link:

http://www.cat-world.com.au/BengalBreedProfile.htm

Prionailurus bengalensis is widely distributed throughout Asia. It is found from Borneo, Java and Bali, north to southeastern Siberia and Manchuria, as far east as India, and westward to Korea and the Philippines. The subspecies found in Borneo is P. b. borneoensis.

Photo 2: This is a pair of courting cats, I was alerted to them by the loud

cat-fight sounds they made - just like those of domestic cats when they mate!

Bornean names: Wild cats in general are called kucing hutan in Malay, while the Kadazan/Dusun/Sungai call them tompu, ompu or talom. I don't know what Leopard Cat are specificly called in this dailects, would be glad if some readers could enlighten me. In Iban wild cats are mayau tebiang, I'm told, while the Muruts and Kelabits have the name tubang for leopard cat.

Borneo's Own Big Cat

The caption under a small photo of a clouded leopard on the index pages of the October 2007 issue of the National Geographic, “A New Species”, was a little misleading. However further inside the magazine is the full explanation and a full length photo of the feline together with a map showing (somewhat optimistically, IMHO) the extent of the remaining rain forests on Borneo.

Neofelis diardi is not exactly a new species as it was first described by a zoologist 184 long years ago in 1823. However later taxonomists demoted this cat to sub-species status, i.e. they thought this cat was merely a race of the species Neofelis nebulosa which are found all over Asia ranging from Nepal through Eastern China to Southeast Asia including Sumatra and Borneo. Thus those Borneo, and Sumatra, were classified under Neofelis nebulosa diardi until now when new detailed analysis shows that, in spite of very similar appearance, they are genetically vastly different from their mainland cousins.

While we think this calls for a celebration, we also mourn the fact that the rain forests of our great island where these magnificent cats and countless other animals live, are disappearing fast! The so-called Heart of Borneo set aside by three countries that share it is indeed being set aside FOR the cultivation of oil and bio-fuel production with each of these participating countries seemingly trying to outrace each other to “develope” (read “destroy”) the land.

This photo of a bored and unhappy captive animal was taken at the Lok Kawi Wildlife Park in Kota Kinabalu. I accept that some animals need to be captured for various legitimate reasons, including for display to educate the public but I strongly oppose capturing and displaying animals sorely for entertainment and financial gains. Though sometimes it’s difficult to judge and draw a line…

The common English name for this cat would probably be Bornean Clouded Leopard or Island Clouded Leopard (to include Sumatra). Anyway the many natives of Borneo have their own name for it: Mondou/Inanasad/Nanansad/Tangangansad (Kadazandusun); Enkuli (Iban); Lakuing (Brunei); Kuleh (Kayan); Kuir (Kelabit, Lundayeh); Tantanion (Murut). In Malay it’s Harimau Dahan or Rimau Dahan.