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<\/a><\/a>Camera-shy specialists<\/h2>\n
The extreme challenge of studying P. planiceps is, at least in part, due to its particular evolutionary traits. Alongside Asia\u2019s fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus), the flat-headed cat is uniquely adapted to thrive in humid, semiaquatic tropical environments such as mangrove forests, lowland forests prone to flooding, peat swamps, and along impenetrably vegetated waterways \u2014 habitats all perfect for concealing this small felid, but not so conducive for researchers and their camera traps.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you work in a mangrove [swamp], I can tell you, it\u2019s no joke,\u201d says Carl Traeholt with Copenhagen Zoo, who has studied the flat-headed cat. There, scientists endure intense heat and humidity, along with biting insects, while navigating a tangled maze of arching stilt-like mangrove roots growing amid brackish water and treacherous mud. \u201cIt\u2019s really difficult terrain to work in and very few people actually do that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Consequently, this wetland-specialized species is one of the least-known small cats globally, with a paucity of records across its range. Camera-trap studies intended for more charismatic species may incidentally pick up a flat-headed cat or two in passing, but often the animals aren\u2019t detected again at that spot. A study published in 2017 notes that camera traps across Borneo, Sumatra and Peninsular Malaysia that observed for more than 100,000 nights yielded only 46 flat-headed cat detections \u2014 proving the common researcher refrain that the species is notoriously camera shy.<\/p>\n
Yet some experts say the cat may not be as rare as presumed. Rather, the lack of detections may be due to the combined challenge of working in its habitat and a lack of studies tailored to target the species in its favorite environs. \u201cWhen we use camera traps for months, we often do not pick up the species, but during a cruise on a boat you can spot it,\u201d says Mohd Azlan Jayasilan, with the Institute of Biodiversity and Environmental Conservation at the University of Malaysia Sarawak, on the island of Borneo.<\/p>\n
Such an incident has occurred twice to Mohd Azlan and his team: once when they spotted a flat-headed cat resting on mangroves beside the Sarawak River, and once in Maludam National Park in Sarawak. \u201cBecause of the rarity in terms of information, I get excited every time I get a record of them in my camera traps,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
But this hard-to-study flat-headed cat habitat is fast disappearing, with some of Asia\u2019s most endangered forest areas, including lowland tropical forest and peat swamp forest.<\/p>\n
While habitat loss due to rapid agricultural encroachment is a primary threat, experts note other risks, such as hunting, capture as bycatch, pollution of waterways, road kills, and possibly the spread of disease from domestic animals. Some experts rank the endangered flat-headed cat\u2019s extreme risk level alongside the elusive, and also endangered, Borneo bay cat (Catopuma badia).<\/p>\n In 2021, a rare feat occurred: researchers in Malaysia caught and radio-collared a female flat-headed cat. For nearly two months it sent back data on where it spent its days and nights.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a very exciting, cool experience,\u201d recalls Amanda Wilson, a Ph.D. student and research officer with the Danau Girang Field Centre, who was part of the team that tagged and tracked that cat. Data from this single individual showed that this small cat has a fittingly small-sized range.<\/p>\n Compared to the larger leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), for example, the flat-headed cat\u2019s range appears to be far more restricted, says Wilson, who is studying both species for her Ph.D. Leopard cats can wander up to 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) within their home range and readily make use of oil palm plantations to hunt rodents and other prey. \u201cBut with the flat-headed cat, their range is much smaller; they only go up to 2 kilometers [1.2 mi],\u201d Wilson says.<\/p>\n The radio-collared cat\u2019s \u201ccore area,\u201d where it spent most of its day, was even more constricted, covering just 500 square meters (about 5,400 square feet), Wilson adds. Based on this data, a picture \u2014 though a fuzzy, limited one \u2014 began to form. The tagged female didn\u2019t stay exclusively in its wild riparian habitat, but seemed to have some adaptation to hunting in disturbed areas in forest that bordered an oil palm plantation, Wilson says.<\/p>\n But limited conclusions can be drawn from this one collared cat, and for Wilson that singular experience underscores the need for greater efforts to understand the species to protect it: \u201cEvery bit of data that we collect is, for me, priceless.\u201d<\/p>\n Panthera\u2019s Wong notes that the information retrieved from the collared cat could have important conservation implications. He suggests that, if a highly endangered species like the flat-headed cat finds strong conservation value within forest adjacent to oil palm plantations, then that could strengthen the case to preserve such areas, he says. But further data will be needed to build such a case.<\/p>\n On that front, Traeholt and his team are gearing up to capture and track flat-headed cats later this year. They have radio collars in hand and are identifying suitable sites; all they need now are the cats.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we have a genuine probability of being able to capture some of them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Camera traps have been the go-to method for studying P. planiceps. But this comes with numerous pitfalls. A large, targeted survey for flat-headed cats in Malaysia\u2019s Deramakot landscape came up with just one record \u2014 a very worrying occurrence, according to Wong, as the region is considered a potential stronghold for the species.<\/p>\n However, shrinking the distances between cameras increased the numbers of sightings, adding weight to the idea that it requires a particular strategy to even catch a glimpse of this cat.<\/p>\n \u201cWe really need to understand how they move through the forest and how they use their habitats for us to get critical population information,\u201d Wong says. \u201cAs it stands, it\u2019s very difficult for us to do any meaningful analysis because we just have so few detections.\u201d<\/p>\n Given these challenges, additional tools such as environmental DNA could prove useful. Experts say eDNA could be a \u201cgame-changer\u201d for monitoring mammal species writ large, with that thinking already supported by studies of other felids such as Pallas\u2019s cat (Otocolobus manul), Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx), snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and jaguar (Panthera onca).<\/p>\n \u201cBy putting camera traps out there, we\u2019re just kind of hoping that a flat-headed cat will cross [our] path,\u201d says Wong. \u201cWhereas if we can use genetic methods, we can be actively out there, taking swabs. That might be a method that we could potentially overlay with camera traps to help us increase detections.\u201d<\/p>\n But eDNA is not without its own challenges, as sampling might only give an indication that a cat is in the vicinity, and not any information on densities, says Traeholt. \u201cIt can be very similar with camera trapping, in a way, as absence of record does not mean that they\u2019re not there.\u201d Still, he says this new tool has a lot of potential.<\/p>\n It could provide \u201canother method to help us \u2026 detect a very rare species that\u2019s hard to detect in difficult environments,\u201d Wong says.<\/p>\n Researching the flat-headed cat certainly presents big challenges, but so too does developing effective conservation action plans for such a cryptic species.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to address threats, we never want to \u2026 forget about those,\u201d Wong says, but first, researchers must gain a deeper understanding of where exactly the cats live. Panthera plans to conduct a range-wide survey of the flat-headed cat, including a pilot survey in southern Thailand to determine its presence there.<\/p>\n Other organizations, such as the Save Wild Cats Foundation, are funding conservation and attempting to launch captive-breeding programs in partnership with zoos in range countries. Thus far, such efforts have proven futile. Songkla Zoo in Thailand is one such center; it plans to trial artificial insemination of captive flat-headed cats later this year.<\/p>\n \u201cThe flat-headed cat is about to become extinct if we do not help preserve it,\u201d says Surasak Yimprasert, head of the conservation, research and animal health department at Songkhla Zoo. He says international collaboration is urgently needed to support breeding efforts and other action, such as awareness raising at the community level.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you want conservation in the wild to be effective, we must educate people who are close to the forest and prevent encroachment on \u2026 the habitat of the flat-headed cat,\u201d says Yimprasert.<\/p>\n A barrier, however, is limited interest in the species, say experts. Small cats in general face a lack of conservation awareness, something that some researchers say is changing, as funding and knowledge of small felids increases little by little. As information about these cats grows, so too does understanding of their pivotal role in ecosystems and the larger web of life.<\/p>\n But compared to their big cat cousins, the small wild cats of the world still face large hurdles to their survival, against a backdrop of meager funding and limited research; the flat-headed cat is no exception.<\/p>\n Jim Sanderson, founder and director of the Small Wild Cat Conservation Foundation, emphasizes the need to reduce threats by making preservation of the flat-headed cat\u2019s habitat a top priority. Traeholt suggests applying a precautionary approach, acting now to protect areas where multiple records of the endangered cat exist.<\/p>\n Many questions remain about the flat-headed cat, but for experts at least one thing is certain: this felid is in urgent need of conservation before it slips quietly into oblivion. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to wait until it\u2019s reaching the end of the population before we start emphasizing the need for researching and protecting the flat-headed cat,\u201d says Wilson.<\/p>\n Wilting, A., Cord, A., Hearn, A. J., Hesse, D., Mohamed, A., Traeholdt, C., \u2026 Hofer, H. (2010). Modelling the species distribution of flat-headed cats (Prionailurus planiceps), an endangered South-East Asian small felid. PLOS ONE, 5(3), e9612. doi:10.1371\/journal.pone.0009612<\/p>\n Dickman, A. J., Hinks, A. E., Macdonald, E. A., Burnham, D., & Macdonald, D. W. (2015). Priorities for global felid conservation. Conservation Biology, 29(3), 854-864. doi:10.1111\/cobi.12494<\/p>\n Bohmann, K., Evans, A., Gilbert, M. T., Carvalho, G. R., Creer, S., Knapp, M., \u2026 De Bruyn, M. (2014). Environmental DNA for wildlife biology and biodiversity monitoring. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 29(6), 358-367. doi:10.1016\/j.tree.2014.04.003<\/p>\n Wadey, J., Ramli, M., Moore, J., Fletcher, C., & Campos-Arceiz, A. (2016) Flat-headed cats, Prionailurus planiceps \u2014 A literature review of their detection-rate in camera-trap studies and failure to re-detect them in Pasoh Forest Reserve, Malaysia. Journal of Indonesian Natural History, 4(2), 16-28. Retrieved from http:\/\/jinh.fmipa.unand.ac.id\/index.php\/jinh\/article\/view\/118<\/p>\n Danaisawadi, P., Piriyarom, S., Krasaeden, W., Pramkasem, S., Rurkkhum, S., & Yimprasert, S. (2023). Time budget and activity patterns during the mating period of flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps in captivity. Tropical Natural History, 7, 221-228. Retrieved from https:\/\/li01.tci-thaijo.org\/index.php\/tnh\/article\/view\/258833<\/p>\nCapturing a cat<\/h2>\n
Beyond camera trapping<\/h2>\n
Saving the mystery cat<\/h2>\n
Citations:<\/h2>\n