| Sunda leopard cat | |
|---|---|
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Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Mammalia |
| Order: | Carnivora |
| Family: | Felidae |
| Subfamily: | Felinae |
| Genus: | Prionailurus |
| Species: | P. javanensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Prionailurus javanensis (Desmarest, 1816) | |
| Subspecies | |
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| Distribution of Sunda leopard cat, 2015[1] | |
TheSunda leopard cat (Prionailurus javanensis) is asmall wild catspecies native to theSundaland islands ofJava,Bali,Borneo,Sumatra and thePhilippines that is considered distinct from theleopard cat occurring in mainlandSouth andSoutheast Asia.[2][3]
Desmarest described the Sunda leopard cat from Java as a little smaller than thedomestic cat with brown round spots on grey-brown coloured fur above and whitish underneath, a line from above each eye towards the back and longish spots on the back. He noted the similarity to theleopard cat from India.[4]Like allPrionailurus species it has rounded ears.[5]Like its mainland relative, the Sunda leopard cat is slender, with long legs and well-defined webs between its toes. Its small head is marked with two prominent dark stripes and a short and narrow white muzzle. There are two dark stripes running from the eyes to the ears, and smaller white streaks running from the eyes to the nose. The backs of its moderately long and rounded ears are black with central white spots. Body and limbs are marked with black spots of varying size and color, and along its back are three rows of elongated spots that join into complete stripes in some subspecies. The tail is about half the size of its head-body length and is spotted with a few indistinct rings near the black tip. The background color of the spotted fur varies from light grey to ochre tawny, with a white chest and belly. There are two main variants in the coloration.[3] The cats from Java, Bali and Palawan are a light grey, sometimes yellow-grey, with very small spots that may not be clearly defined. The three spotted lines along the back do not from complete stripes and are close together. Those from Sumatra, Borneo and Negros have a warm ochre toned background color and larger well-distinguished spots. The three longitudinal spot-lines are usually fused into stripes. Sunda leopard cats weigh 0.55 to 3.8 kg (1.2 to 8.4 lb), have head-body lengths of 38.8 to 66 cm (15.3 to 26.0 in) and tails about 40–50% of that length.[3][6]
The Sunda leopard cat inhabits the islands ofSumatra,Borneo,Java,Bali,Tebingtinggi,Palawan,Negros,Cebu andPanay.[3] Its natural habitat is lowlandtropical evergreen forest, but it has also adapted to human-modified landscapes with suitable vegetation cover, and inhabits agricultural areas such asrubber,oil palm, andsugarcane plantations.[7]
InSabah'sTabin Wildlife Reserve, Sunda leopard cats had averagehome ranges of 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi).[8]
InKalimantan, Sunda leopard cats were recorded in mixedswamp forest and tall interior forest at elevations below 20 m (66 ft) in the vicinity ofSabangau National Park between 2008 and 2018.[9]
Felis javanensis was the scientific name proposed byAnselme Gaëtan Desmarest in 1816 for a leopard cat from Java.[4] In the 19th and 20th centuries, several leopard catzoological specimens from the Sunda islands were described:
Results of aphylogeographical study indicate that the Sunda leopard cat lineagediverged in theMiddle Pleistocene. The Borneo population is thought to have expanded to Sumatra and the Philippines island of Palawan after theToba eruption, when these islands were connected during thelate Pleistoceneglaciation. Since leopard cats in Palawan and Negros show low genetic differentiation, it is possible that humans introduced the leopard cat from Palawan to Negros and adjacent islands.[12]Based on these results, two Sunda leopard cat subspecies are recognised:[2]
Sunda leopard cats photographed bycamera traps in Kalimantan between 2008 and 2018 were foremost nocturnal, overlapping with the activity pattern offlat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps).[9]Those recorded in an oil palm plantation in central Kalimantan were active from late afternoon to early morning and preyed foremost onricefield rats and other rodents.[13]
Nineradio-collared Sunda leopard cats inSabah used predominantly oil palm plantations and also loggeddipterocarp forest adjacent to the Tabin Wildlife Reserve. They were observed up to 4 m (13 ft) above ground huntingrodents andbeetles, and preyed foremost onWhitehead's spiny rat,dark-tailed tree rat,long-tailed giant rat,lizards, snakes and frogs. Males had larger home ranges than females, averaging 3.5 km2 (1.4 sq mi) and 2.1 km2 (0.81 sq mi), respectively. Each male's range overlapped one or more female ranges.[14]Scats collected of Sunda leopard cats insugarcane fields inNegros island indicate that they feed foremost on rodents such ashouse mouse,Polynesian rat,ricefield rat andtanezumi rat.[15] To a lesser extent, they also prey onamphibians,geckos, lizards andpasserine birds occurring in these sugarcane fields.[7]
In western Java, Sunda leopard cats were encountered close to human settlements and resting on the ground.[16]
In Java and Bali, 219 Sunda leopard cats were recorded in 21 of 27 wildlife markets surveyed between 1996 and 2018. More than half were kittens, indicating they were caught in the wild. Numbers offered decreased from the 1990s surveys to 2018.[17] In Sumatra, it is threatened byhabitat loss followingdeforestation.[18]
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