Borneo's Mysterious Carnivore
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WILDLIFE Photo: John Mathai John Photo: Hose’s Civet Borneo’s mysterious carnivore A research team from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia Program, led by John Mathai, is fighting against time and a severe shortage of funding in an effort to study the habitat and ecology of the elusive Hose’s Civet. Text by John Mathai Photos by Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) Malaysia wenty years from now, the introductory sentence to the Hose’s Civet Diplogale hosei in journals, maga- zines and textbooks may very well read: ‘This rare, mysterious Tcivet once roamed the mountainous forests of Borneo’. Like so many animals already, the Hose’s Civet may, in the future, be extolled in extinction, yet at present, when alive and perhaps under Mossy forest n the Forest Management Unit. severe threat, it is completely ignored. However, the Hose’s Civet still has the entire forest trophic system and play Three methods recorded small carnivores: line a chance. It has been detected at high a vital role in forest regeneration. encounter rates in a logging concession Borneo was identified as one of the transects (diurnal direct observation), sign deep in the interior of Sarawak, Borneo, seven global priority areas for small car- surveys, and camera-trapping. and is now the focal species of a research nivore conservation by the IUCN/SSC team from the Wildlife Conservation small carnivore action plan in 1989 Society (WCS) Malaysia Program. The (Schreiber et al., 1989). It has more team, led by myself, aims to understand endemic carnivores than any other island the major threats to the species and Hose’s Civet. except Madagascar (Meiri, 2005). In Mathai John Photo: hopes to recommend improved timber spite of the undoubted importance of harvesting techniques and management Apart from diverse vertebrate and invertebrate Borneo to small carnivores, credible, strategies to ensure that not just the accurate and up-to-date information Hose’s Civet, but the whole guild of prey, carnivores in Sarawak eat many fruits about their distribution and ecology in small carnivores, vital to the health and and regularly pass intact seeds in their faeces, Sarawak is scarce, with few systematic integrity of forest ecosystems, can persist studies having being undertaken till date. in the vast areas of forest designated for indicating their importance as seed dispersers. To understand status and ecology logging in the state. of wildlife in logging concessions in The state of Sarawak in Borneo Department, 1997), it is critical to the food chain and regulate populations Sarawak, and to evaluate conservation currently suffers high levels of deforesta- document the status of mammals in for- of prey and other carnivores through priorities and management recom- tion, with forests outside protected areas est remnants within logging concessions predation and competition. Apart from mendations, a long-term monitoring rapidly being degraded by timber extrac- and in the modified habitats themselves diverse vertebrate and invertebrate prey, programme was launched by WCS tion, conversion to oil palm plantations so as to determine conservation priori- carnivores in Sarawak eat many fruits Malaysia in 2004 in the Sela’an-Linau and other land developments. With just ties and management strategies. and regularly pass intact seeds in their Forest Management Unit (FMU), 4% of the land area gazetted as protect- Small carnivores can be good indica- faeces, indicating their importance as the first of only two logging conces- ed areas compared to 35.2% earmarked tors of forest health, provided sufficient seed dispersers. sions in the state which were once for logging activities (Sarawak Forest data are available. Carnivores sit high in They thus have cascading effects on certified under the Malaysian Timber Waterfalls in the FMU. 2 Nature Watch Oct - Dec 2010 Oct - Dec 2010 Nature Watch 3 Certification Scheme. The main objec- The Sela’an-Linau FMU cm above ground level, at a distance tive was to document the diversity and between 1 and 1.5 m from the animal distribution of mammals and birds covers 55,949 ha (or 559 trail. All cameras were set to run 24 within the FMU. Small carnivores were km2, roughly 80% the size hours a day. Images of conspecifics at simply part of the general remit, and the same camera location separated by reported here are records of them from of Singapore) at least half an hour were recorded as the first 54 months. independent observations (O’Brien et al., 2003). Study Area The Sela’an-Linau FMU covers 55,949 Results ha (or 559 km2, roughly 80% the size In total, 16 carnivore species were of Singapore), and lies in the hinter- recorded: 14 small carnivores, Sun Bear land of northern Sarawak, north of the The Sela’an-Linau Forest and Sunda Clouded Leopard. Of the upper Baram River. Samling Strategic Management Unit in Upper Baram, small carnivores, there were at least 3 Sarawak. Corporation (Samling) is the licensed species of mustelids (otters, martens and concessionaire. In the FMU live many weasels) (otters could not be identified indigenous human communities such as to species, so there could potentially be the Kayan, Kelabit, Kenyah and Penan, Zone (PZ), an area which is set aside for ods. Three methods recorded small more), 7 species of viverrids (civets), many of whom depend on forest for conservation, with no timber harvesting carnivores: line transects (diurnal direct 2 species of herpestids (mongooses) their livelihood and on wildlife for their planned in the FMU’s current Forest observation), sign surveys, and camera- and 2 species of felids (cats). Four of protein. Management Plan. The PZ, however, is trapping. The survey team walked these small carnivore species are listed The Sela’an-Linau FMU is undulat- not gazetted under the state government 789 km of line transects, 277 km dur- as Vulnerable under the IUCN Red List ing in nature, with altitudes from 300 and hence has no legal protection. It is ing sign surveys, and camera-trapped for of Threatened Species (IUCN, 2010): m above sea level (a.s.l.) in its south- mainly montane and submontane forest, 5,252 trap-nights. Hose’s Civet (endemic to Borneo), west to about 2,000 m a.s.l. in the Tama ranging from 900 m to almost 2,000 m Line transects undertaken separately Binturong, Banded Civet and Marbled Abu Range on its eastern edge. Much a.s.l. for direct sighting and for sign surveys Cat. Otters were not identified to spe- (60%) supports mixed dipterocarp for- were the major general survey methods. cies, but are also red-listed. One species, est, with some montane forest on higher Methods 25 transect lines of approximately 2 Collared Mongoose, is Data Deficient ground (4%) and tropical heath forest Field work spanned March 2004 to km each were established and marked on the Red List. Both large carnivores (kerangas) on infertile soils (21%). Old September 2008, using multiple meth- every 25 m. Transects were surveyed are listed as Vulnerable. and current swidden (temuda) cov- daily starting from 07:00 am until The Protected Zone recorded the ers 15%. Enrichment planting with about 11:00 am. At each 25 m inter- highest small carnivore diversity; nine of native timber species is being done in val, surveyors stopped for 1 minute the 14 small carnivore species recorded some 3,000 ha that burnt during the and all mammals and large birds either were found there (64.3%). However, Photo: John Mathai John Photo: 1997–1998 El Niño event. About half observed or heard were recorded. survey effort and type varied too the forest was logged conventionally Sign surveys were conducted along much from site to site for comparisons Many transects need to be negotiated over streams and rivers. in the past, but since 2003 a reduced the same transect lines as direct diurnal between them of their small carnivore impact logging (RIL) is applied. The observations. Tracks, diggings in the records to be meaningful. area receives high rainfall (3,400–5,900 earth and on fallen trees, body mark- Camera-trapping was the best survey mm annually) with no distinct wet or ings, antler markings and claw marks method for small carnivores (Table 1): dry season. Temperatures in low-lying were recorded, as were the probable size of 14 species recorded, 12 were detected areas average around 26˚C, falling to of the individual (adult or young) and by camera-traps, only six by line 14 ˚C on summits. time since the signs were made. transects, and, given ambiguous species Surveys were concentrated in 14 sites These surveys are still on-going dur- identification, sign surveys were useful in the western, northern and central ing 2010. However, both methods yield only for Malay Civet Viverra tangalunga, Sela’an-Linau FMU. The survey areas too few small carnivore records for spe- Sun Bear and otters. Sun Bear was the were divided into sectors based on dif- cies-level analysis. most widely found carnivore, in 12 of ferences in logging regime, time elapsed Camera-trapping occurred from the 14 sites (Table 1). after logging, elevation, hunting pres- January 2005 to September 2008, using This is, however, to be expected: it sure, proximity to settlements and slash 40 CamtrakkerTM units. In 2008, two and Malay Civet are the only species and burn fields, proximity to logging LeafRiver digital units were acquired. identifiable by signs, thereby increasing roads, and forest contiguity (Mathai By the end of the survey, all 42 cameras recording efficiency. Small carnivores were et al., 2010). This was done to allow were out of commission, mainly due to mostly sparsely recorded. Yellow-throated investigation of occurrence patterns for high humidity.