In 2013 the world's least known cat was caught on camera in a previously unsurveyed rainforest by scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and Imperial College London. Until then, the bay cat (Pardofelis badia) had been recorded on camera traps just a handful of times in its Borneo forest home and was only photographed in the wild for the first time in 2003. But more images of this animal have been captured than ever before, in a heavily commercially logged area of forest where they were not expected to thrive, though the 2013 study showed solid evidence that they did. This is only one of four forest areas in all of Borneo - the third largest island in the world - which has so far been reported to have not only the bay cat, but four other cat species as well, the Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi), leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) and marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata).

Camera traps have transformed how information is collected for many species of mammals and birds, including some of the most charismatic species in existence, like tigers. Many of these species are exceedingly good at spotting, and avoiding, conservationists who spend time in the field seeking them. Camera traps, on the other hand, sit silently in the forest often working for months on end come rain or shine. Almost nothing is known about the habits of the mysterious bay cat, apart from the fact that they are, as a predator, an important component of the forest ecosystem, and that they are thought to be at risk of extinction due to widespread loss of its habitat on Borneo.

It was with surprise that so many bay cats were spotted by camera trap at these sites in Borneo where natural forests have been so heavily logged for the timber trade. Conservationists used to assume that very few wild animals can live in logged forest, but we now know this land can be home for many endangered species.

(Source: ZSL and Imperial College London press release, 05.11.2013)