KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife experts will engage in a long and detailed discussion on how to best protect one of Sabah’s iconic but endangered animals – the Sunda clouded leopard – at an international workshop beginning tomorrow.
Scientists, governmental agencies and industry players are expected to attend the three-day workshop on the issue at the Le Meridien Hotel here, organised by the Sabah Wildlife Department (SWD), the Danau Girang Field Centre (DGFC) and the Sime Darby Foundation.
DGFC director Dr Benoit Goossens said the workshop will see participants proposing recommendations for better protection of the endangered species based on findings of an extensive five-year research conducted by the centre and the SWD.
“I hope the Sabah government will adopt the Sunda Clouded Leopard Action Plan for implementation to save the species, which is threatened by habitat loss and forest fragmentation in Sabah.
“For the past 10 years, SWD, DGFC and collaborators from Oxford University’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit (WildCRU), the University of Montana and the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research have been collecting crucial information on Sunda clouded leopard populations in Sabah, including demography, behaviour, landscape ecology and genetics.
“During this project, we carried out surveys using camera traps in several protected areas, and we estimate the population (of Sunda clouded leopards) to be around 700 individuals in Sabah,” added Goossens.
The protected areas are the Crocker Range, the Tawau Hills Park, the Tabin Wildlife Reserve, Kinabatangan, Malua, Ulu Segama and the Maliau Basin, among others.
Earlier this year, a workshop and conference focusing on the protection of the Proboscis monkey was held, and the DGFC is currently drafting a state action plan on the conservation of the species for submission to the state government.
Meanwhile, Sime Darby Foundation chairman Tun Musa Hitam stressed that the local government must adopt and implement the state action plan, which is backed by scientific research, expert opinions and input from industry leaders.
“We also hope that the same will be replicated for the Sunda clouded leopard, which is one of my favourite animal species due to its sheer beauty.
“This species, like many others, is under severe threat from poachers, habitat loss and fragmented forest areas,” he said.
The foundation has been supporting DGFC since April 2011, with a total commitment of RM3.96 million over a period of six years, to conduct research on three species – the Proboscis monkey, the Sunda clouded leopard and the Bornean banteng.