Beautiful Cats: Four of the five species threatened by extinction. WWF

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Remarkable Images of Big Cats Urge Forest Protection

Wild Cats Caught on Camera

 
• An image of a clouded leopard is snapped by a camera trap
•  set deep in the jungle in Bukit Tigapuluh (also known as Thirty Hills),
• a forest area rapidly being cut down by industry.
• © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA 
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• The Asiatic golden cat is rarely seen by people. It prefers to live in heavily
• forested areas far from human activity, areas becoming harder to find in Sumatra.
• © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA 
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• The leopard cat, along with the other four cat species in these photographs,
• is dependent on a densely forested habitat. However, the forests of Sumatra
• are experiencing the highest rate of deforestation in the world.
• © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA
•  
• WWF is working hard to identify and document the amazing
• biodiversity
•  of this region,
• including species such as this marbled cat, in order to help ensure that
• this area is appreciated
• and protected. © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA
•  
• This Sumatran tiger lives in a region that timber company Barito Pacific
•  has slated to cut down. Indonesia law states that concession areas with
• presence of endangered species, such as this tiger, should be protected.
• WWF is encouraging Barito Pacific to protect this concession.
•  © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA
•  
• A curious Sumatran tiger comes in for a closer look.
• There are as few as 3,200 tigers left in the wild and only 400 Sumatran
•  tigers.
• Large, undisturbed areas of forest are necessary for their survival.
• © WWF-Indonesia/PHKA

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Camera traps caught extraordinary snapshots of five of the seven wild cat

species found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

WWF scientists and field staff use cameras equipped with infrared

triggers, called camera traps, to obtain critical data about wildlife and their habitats.

The images are a stark reminder of what could be lost to logging,

plantations and illegal encroachment as four of the five species of cat caught

on camera are listed as threatened by extinction.

WWF conducted a three-month survey in early 2011 of an unprotected forest

corridor in the area known as Thirty Hills (or Bukit Tigapuluh in Indonesian).

As a result, its camera traps produced 404 images of the wild cats:

• 226 of the Sumatran tiger
• 77 of the clouded leopard
• 70 of the golden cat
• 27 of the leopard cat
• 4 of the marble cat

The tigers were found in an area designated as a “global priority Tiger Conservation Landscape,” in one of the last large blocks of lowland forest still left on the island. These remaining forests are under significant threat from rapid deforestation due to industrial logging for pulp and paper and illegal encroachment from palm oil plantations. Such large scale forest clearance not only wipes out trees, it destroys the homes of indigenous tribes and other local residents of Sumatra’s forests.

WWF has been working in this region for years, and in 1995 helped establish Bukit Tigapuluh National Park, a 330,000-acre protected area in the Thirty Hills region. These recent photos reinforce the need to expand the park to protect the wildlife living in the less hilly regions just outside the park’s borders. Expanding the size of the park or managing the area as a restoration scheme would ensure tigers continue to have room to roam, a crucial element for their health and breeding.