THE JAKARTA POST 4 May 19;
A recent field survey conducted by environmental organization Conservation International (CI) Indonesia, in collaboration with the West Java Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BBKSDA) and supported by Chevron, has spotted 10 endangered Javan leopards in Guntur Papandayan conservation forest, West Java.
The leopard sightings were caught on 60 camera traps previously set up by CI Indonesia for a two-year field survey, from 2016 to 2018.
Eighty-three images captured by the cameras show that the leopards roam the conservation forest in the morning from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. and at night from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m.
CI Indonesia’s terrestrial program division senior manager, Anton Ario, said his organization and the BBKSDA had spent a considerable amount of time monitoring the Javan leopards to accurately record the number of the animals left in Guntur Papandayan.
“Each individual leopard can be identified based on its distinctive body size, sex and pattern,” Anton said in a statement, adding that the field survey had identified three male adults and seven female adults around Guntur Papandayan.
He went on to say that images from the field survey had shown Guntur Papandayan as a passable habitat for Javan leopards, despite recent reports of illegal logging.
In addition to Javan leopards, Guntur Papandayan is also home to other endangered species such as the Javan gibbon, the Javan surili (grizzled leaf monkey), the Javan hawk-eagle and the Javan slow loris. (rfa/mut)
