A highly elusive species of leopard has been captured on film in a rare encounter in its natural habitat.
Researchers from Oxford University managed to get the picture of the Bornean Clouded leopard, which was only recognised as unique species in 2007, during a trip to assess whether the animals were living in the Sebangau National Park last month.
Bornean clouded leopards, the smallest of the big cats, are notoriously difficult to study in the wild as they are mainly nocturnal and highly secretive.
They inhabit inhospitable peat swamp forests and usually hunt their prey by ambushing from the trees.
This rare picture of a male Bornean clouded leopard was captured just before dawn using a remote camera placed 2 miles into the dark tropical forest.
The researchers set up 22 remote cameras in the area in the hope of spotting one of the sky creatures and now believe they have managed to obtain pictures of two separate animals in the national park.
Dr Susan Cheyne, from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University's Department of Zoology, said: "These cats are extremely elusive and shy.
"If they are surviving in an area that has had extensive disturbance from mankind and logging then it is very positive. As the level of disturbance in the park decreases then we hope they will do well.
"They also provide a good indicator of the health of the forest as cloud leopards are the largest predator in Borneo. If there was insufficient prey, they would not be able to survive.
Bornean clouded leopards are listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List and there are thought to be around 10,000 of them left in the wild.
With long bodies and short limbs, clouded leopards are expert tree climbers. They feed on monkeys, birds and wild pigs.
They also have the largest canine teeth relative to their body size compared to any other cat.
Professor David MacDonald, director of the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit, said: "The Bornean clouded leopard is a top priority for our programme, and we are very excited by this evidence that they occur at Sebangau - a great deal remains to be discovered about these beautiful felids, which are a flagship for conservation in South East Asia."
The team also captured pictures of endangered Orang-utans, gibbons, the mysterious Sun bear and other smaller cats such as the marbled cat and flat-headed cat.