Illust. credit: Wahyu Gumelar Inset photo credit: WWF Kayan Mentarang/Dave Augeri

New 'red carnivore' found in E. kalimantan

A possible new species of mammal, referred to as a "red carnivore", was found in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) announced on Monday in Jakarta.

"It is very rare nowadays to discover a new mammal species. The discovery of a new species of Barking Deer in Vietnam in 1997 was quite a sensation," said WWF ecologist Stephan Wulffraat, who has been working on research in the national park for seven years.

"It is even more amazing to discover a new species of carnivore in Southeast Asia. The last time this happened in Borneo was with the discovery of the Borneo ferret-badger in 1895," added Wulffraat.

In April 2003, a camera trap, installed by the WWF research team at Lalut Birai station, Kayan Mentarang, captured two pictures of a red carnivore, which nobody -- locals or mammalists -- had ever seen before.

The photographs show a mammal slightly larger than a domestic cat with small ears, entirely dark red fur, and a long bushy tail, almost as long as the body.

Another remarkable feature is its very large hind legs.

The illustration above was a reconstruction drawing based on front- and rear-view pictures provided by the camera trap. The inset is a front-view photograph.

After seeking affirmation from several mammal experts, Wulffraat is 90 percent certain that it is a new species. For further confirmation, the WWF team is endeavoring to catch a live specimen of the mammal. --JP