The Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa)

Details

Published on Saturday, 04 May 2013 16:04

Written by Paul W

It seems strange that just two days ago a team confirmed the extinction of the clouded leopard in Taiwan after thirteen years of searching. It is a species that after two years of camera trapping, I myself had only one short 3 second glimpse on film to show its existence in the areas of Thailand that we have been lucky enough to be allowed to camera trap in.

It is known to have been present throughout Thailand but there is little known of the animal itself. Radio collaring research conducted in Thailand shows they habituate a large range of between 30 and 50 square kilometers with males tending to have the larger ranges. Other fascinating facts concerning this truly beautiful and unique felid include: it is the world's smallest big cat; and it has the longest canines for body size of any cat known. But still little is known of its natural life in the wild. Testament to its cryptic nature. 

What seems strange is just one day after the sad Taiwanese announcement I would be looking at footage from our automatic cameras after a 16 kilometer hike in the forest to retrieve them. And there was our first real glimpse of the world's smallest big cat, the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), in the wild. Thousand's of hours of cameras strapped to trees deep in the Thai forest and we finally got lucky with this species. The day after the Taiwanese announcement. It makes you understand why the Taiwanese search took 13 years before they finally gave up. This is a hard species to find anywhere.

Lets hope the poachers and land enchroachers never succeed in robbing the Thai people of their remaining clouded leopards. 

The Bear Necessities

Details

Published on Sunday, 28 April 2013 14:51

Written by Paul W

Look for the, bear necessities. The simple bear necessitites. Forget about your worries and your strife. I mean the, bear necessities. Oh, mother nature's recipies. That bring the bear necessities to life.

I was quite surprised when I saw these videos the first time and then read the lyrics from The Jungle Book movie, just how good a fit they are. There definitely seems to be some form of enjoyment going on. Its a bit like a life lesson for us all - simple pleasures are usually the best...

But the probable reality is that these males are using the tree, and the same trees repeatedly, to scent mark. It is believed they do this as a form of communication between males so that they "know" other males sharing overlapping areas. Work on Grizzly bears by Owen Nevin of the University of Cumbria in 2007 concluded:

".... cameras show that adult male bears are the most likely to rub trees, and the satellite telemetry tells us that males move from valley to valley in large loops, marking trees as they go, while looking for breeding females,"

Nevin thinks that by marking the trees with their scent, the male bears get to "know" each other better, which may reduce fighting among the bears over potential female mates.

"...male bears can seriously injure or even kill each other when they get into a fight," Nevin said. "If one recognizes the other from the scent marks on the rub trees in the area, he knows he's in for a tough fight—he's on the other guy's patch so to speak—so it might be better to back away than make a serious challenge."

There are clearly at least two males, possibly three, in the video and they visited the same tree repeatedly over a 6 week time frame in the Dong Phayayen - Khao Yai World Heritage site. We also have accidental footage of them using the tree before this but this camera was placed specifically to see if we could possibly catch this behaviour closely on video. A successful attempt I think.

Tiger Beetle (Cicindela)

Details

Published on Monday, 08 April 2013 10:57

Written by Paul W

I have been venturing out these past few weeks in the hope that the "season" of bugs has started again in central Thailand. Its been a dire few months in regards to insect spotting and I have been eagerly awaiting the hot season to arrive.  The hot season heralds the next big change in the forest's cycle. It is an age old signal to many species that the next stepping stone to the season of plenty, the rainy season, has been taken. Many trees are now bearing their fruits in anticipation of the arrival of the rains, birds are beginning to pair for nesting and some butterfly species are agreggating and puddling. It was a relief to head off to one of my little favourite spots and to see the baronness of the last few months replaced by an increased presence and activity of bees, wasps and butterflies. The "bug season" looks to have started at last for central Thailand.

And with those bees and wasps to feed on, one of my favourite insects, the tiger beetles, are now back on view. I was happy to see at least three tiger beetles of the species Cosmodela aurulenta juxtata this last Sunday morning. They are  a very interesting beetle indeed. They are predatory. They feed on other insects and have evolved to do this by being extremely fast both on the wing and on the ground. They fly rather like a wasp with a lightning fast vertical take-off and manouvering. They are easier to spot though when they are moving on the ground, where their speed sets them out from the other insects.

Cosmodela aurulenta juxtata is quite common and easy to spot on the sandy banks of forest streams hunting their prey. They feed on nearly anything they can see and catch, including invertebrates that may be larger than themselves. Beetles, flies, bees, wasps, caterpillars, ants, grasshopper nymphs, and spiders are just a few of the invertebrates the tiger beetle may prey upon. But approach them slowly as tiger beetles are wary, probably because they are also preyed upon by dragonflies, robber flies, other tiger beetles, birds, and small vertebrates. Yet another fascinating species in Thailand.