Camera Traps and Cat Conservation

There’s a great article in The Guardian this week about camera traps, and their increasingly important role in wildlife conservation.

Researchers the world over have embraced camera trap technology. It provides a unique view of watching wildlife in their natural habitat, and the technology has become invaluable for learning what animals live in a given area. By placing a camera on a high mountain trail, or along a game trail in a dense rainforest, scientists are learning a whole new set of data.

In recent years, the use of camera traps has led to major discoveries, including documenting an Amur leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis) in China for the first time in 62 years; proving that the world’s rarest rhino, the Javan (Rhinoceros sondaicus), is breeding, by photographing a female with her calf; rediscovering the hairy-nosed otter (Lutra sumatrana) in the Malaysian state of Sabah; recording the first wolverine (Gulo gulo) in California since 1922; taking the first video of the rare Bornean bay cat (Pardofelis badia); documenting the elusive short-eared dog (Atelocynus microtis) preying on an amphibian in the Amazon; proving the extremely rare Siamese crocodile (Crocodylus siamensis) still inhabits Cambodia; and snapping the first-ever photographs of a number of species in the wild, including the Saharan cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki) and the giant muntjac deer (Muntiacus vuquangensis) in Southeast Asia.

Elusive creatures that they are, the wild cats have benefited tremendously from camera trap technology. One of the projects ISEC Canada sent funding to last year, the African Golden Cat study in Gabon, produced extraordinary results with the first-ever video of one of the least known wild cats in the world.

Camera traps recently set up in Gabon took the first publicly released video of the African golden cat, the least-known feline on the continent. Unlike the other cats of Africa, the golden cat only inhabits rainforest, making it extremely difficult to spot, let alone study. University of KwaZulu-Natal graduate student Laila Bahaa-el-din captured footage of an African golden cat sitting directly in front of the camera and chasing a butterfly. On watching the videos for the first time, Bahaa-el-din says, “I felt, at last, like I was getting to know this elusive cat… The African golden cat has dominated my thoughts and energy for over a year-and-a-half now.”

Bahaa-el-din’s research is focused on understanding how the wild cat fares in pristine areas versus sustainably managed logging concessions and poorly managed logging tracts. Camera trap video footage taken in a logging concession in central Gabon that employs sound logging practices and aggressively pursues illegal hunters, indicates, says Bahaa-al-din, that “logging alone should not mean the depletion of wildlife.” The evidence from these camera traps will eventually be used to develop a conservation plan for the African golden cat, now getting its first global publicity thanks to the remote cameras.

Conservation of wild cats is accomplished using a variety of methods, often depending on the species being studied. The increasing popularity of camera traps however, has resulted in an enormous leap of knowledge on their location and status in the wild. We congratulate Laila on her tremendous success, and look forward to purchasing more camera traps for her when she returns to Gabon next year!

See also

How Wildlife Camera Traps Are Revolutionizing Conservation in The Guardian

Cats In China: Eurasian Lynx

The Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx is widely distributed from the northeast to the northwest and has been reported in the Baimaxueshan Nature Reserve, according to local reserve reports.  Specific distribution sites were confirmed by local field surveys when nature reserves were established.  In northern China the Eurasian lynx is distributed only in the mountainous areas surrounding Daxinganling Mountain.  Distribution areas include the forest in Heilongjiang and Jilin provinces and the northern part of Inner Mongolia in Northeast China.   In the northwest the lynx is seen almost everywhere in Ningxia, Gansu and Qinghai provinces as well as western Inner Mongolia and Tibet.  Lynx are not reported in southern China, indicating that the Eurasian lynx in a palaearctic species adapted to cold weather regions.

Threats and conservation

Two decades ago factors threatening the lynx including shooting, snaring, poisoning and removing cubs from dens.  Since the Wildlife Protection Law was enacted in 1988, hunting activities have been banned.  Strict limits on personal firearm possession since 2000 and associated punishments reduced field hunting sharply.  From 2003 to 2008, 31 lynx pelts, 27 small-bore rifles and 19 home-made Tibetan powder guns were confiscated in Qiantang Nature Reserve in Tibet.

Poaching is presently the main threat to lynx.  Poachers do not intend to snare lynx particularly, but are seeking species of high economic value such as red deer, roe deer, goral, antelope and gazelle.  Snares are left in the open and present a year-round danger to all wild animals.  Some of the nature reserves conduct snare removal efforts.  At Hunchun nature reserve, volunteers collected 308 snares and traps in 6 days during December 2005, during another 4-day search in January 2008 located and confiscated 511 snares and 3 clips.  At Saihanwula Nature Reserve we conducted trap removal efforts during the winters of 2007 and 2008; over 300 snares were collected.  Higher penalties were imposed on 11 poachers; those snaring for hares were fined 2000 Yuan and for deer 5000 Yuan; this is about half a year’s income for local farmers.  These penalties curbed poaching behaviour effectively; the footprints of lynx appeared steadily in the core protected areas during 2008.  But poaching is still the primary problem for nature reserve managers.

Although the national Law of Wildlife Protection was enacted in 1988 and the provincial governments were issued management regulations, law enforcement is always complicated by the personalized network of relationship and connections.  The situation is more difficult in minority communities such as in western Sichuan, Tibet and Xinjiang, where local minorities consider clothes or garment decorations from wild animal pelts to be symbols of cultural tradition and higher social dignity.

Although more and more land is being set aside in nature reserves, the lynx populations within the reserves are being impacted by the fragmentation of habitat due to expansion of human activities in rural areas.  Populations are becoming isolated from one another.  How inbreeding will influence genetic diversity in the long term is an open question.

The Eurasian lynx is listed as a national second class key protected species under strict protection of the Law of Wildlife Protection in China.  Lynx habitat has been enlarged thanks to the implementation of the project of Wildlife Conservation and Nature Reserve Construction.  As of 2008 there were over 2500 different classified reserves n the mainland, additionally, the quality of staff, facilities, and the checking stations are much improved.  Some of the nature reserves have implemented monitoring programs addressing predator-prey relationships and food supply, which have helped ungulate recovery.  These monitoring programs revealed that takin, giant panda and mainland serow increased more than 3% at Changqing nature reserve and the provisioned feeding accelerated the blue sheep population’s recovery.

Source: IUCN Cat News Special Issue Autumn 2010, Author Bao Weidong

Smallest Cats In The World May Be Cutest Too!

Well, this is just going to make your day. Nearly four minutes of Rusty-spotted cat cuteness from the Wildlife Heritage Foundation in the UK. Enjoy!

Along with the Black-footed cats, Rusty-spotted are considered the smallest wild cat species in the world. Adult Rusty’s weigh in at about one kg (2 pounds) and are about 35-48 cm (14 – 19 inches) in length. They are found only in India and Sri Lanka, and their exact distribution there is unknown.

The Mystique of Small Cats

For me, the most intriguing and magnetising thing about small wild felines is their sublime mysticality.

If you gaze into the eyes of a wild cat, looking beyond their striking coat, further yet – beyond their deep intelligence, you may see something of a mysterious aura, perhaps more spiritual than visual, that is the very essence of these animals.

My appreciation for nature began at an early age. My parents used to take my sister and I to the coast on a weekend, and when the tide was out we would go exploring all the little rock pools. We also went on holiday a few times every year, usually abroad, and would always spend plenty of time outdoors. It was this adventurous start in life that helped shape me into who I am today, as I’m sure most of you will have similar stories of your own.

It’s never too late to be inspired by nature, by our planet.

Cat conservation still remains heavily focused on the big cats. When I became involved in the field of conservation, stories such as that of the rare bay cat and elusive Andean cat enticed me to learn more about the felids which share our world. Today, the more I learn about these stunning predators, the deeper my intrigue and amazement. And we still have so much more to learn. Research is ongoing. Preservation efforts continue.

Perhaps until we know everything there is to know about small wild cats, then felines such as the endangered Bornean bay cat, whose habitat remains a mystery, will continue to elude and mystify people for many years to come.

Photo © Global Canopy Program Jo Ross and Andrew Hearn

Researchers suspect there are less than 2,500 mature bay cats left in the wild. The species is endemic to Borneo and rampant deforestation is the main threat.

About the author: ISEC Canada member Brad Parsk is a conservationist and wild cat enthusiast from the U.K. He has assisted in projects throughout Europe and North America preserving threatened species and their habitats.