Automatic cameras have captured images of a clouded leopard in Borneo's Sebangua National Park, an area where the cats have not been recorded before.

Researchers say confirmation of the leopards' presence highlights the need to protect the region's habitat.

The park is one of the world's largest deep peat-swap forests, but is at risk from illegal logging and forest fires.

The images are helping a team of scientists identify what big cat species are found in the area.

The motion-activated remote cameras that captured the remarkable images were located on the northern edge of the Sebangau National Park, Indonesian Borneo.
Map of Borneo (Image: BBC)

"The Bornean clouded leopard is a top priority for our programme," said Professor David Macdonald, director of Oxford University's Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, which is part of the Sebangau Felid Project.

"We are very excited by this evidence that they occur at Sebangau - a great deal remains to be discovered about these beautiful felids, which are a flagship for conservation in South-East Asia."

Source: BBC News

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