Monday 31 May 2010 Bay Cat
The Bay Cat (Catopuma badia) is a native of Borneo an island in southeast Asia south of the Philippines. It lives in rocky outcrops up to 900 metres and in dense tropical forests. It is so rarely seen that its habitat is not 100% confirmed but it is generally believed to be in the northern part of Borneo mainly in the Sabah and Sarawak and Kalimantan regions. It usually has reddish brown fur but there are also some with gray fur with paler fur on the stomach and chest and rounded ears. Bay Cats are approximately 22 inches or 55 cm long with an extra long 14 inch or 35 cm tail. They only weigh about 2.3 to 4.5 kg or 5 to 10 lbs.The only other member of the genus Catopuma is the Asian Golden Cat (catopuma temminckii) and the Bay Cat was thought to be a sub-species or separate version of the same cat but the blood samples taken from a specimen captured 1992 proved it to be a unique species. It is considered to be very endangered that is why it is protected everywhere it is thought to live.
Even though it is a small cat, little bigger than a domestic cat, it is considered very vicious and will attack an animal bigger than itself. Like most cats the Bay Cat hunts for its food at night including rodents, monkeys and birds, but will also scavenge and eat carrion. So little is known about this cat because there have been only 6 specimens between 1885 and 1928. The seventh was collected in 1992 and one in 1998 but there are still occasionally sightings. Everything known is based on these eight cats.
The Bay Cat is considered to be a mystery cat since it is so rarely seen or even photographed. It has one unusual feature about its teeth. They are not like any other cats teeth. The first upper premolar is smaller than normal with a rounded head and has only one root in the gum. Other cats have two roots.
Due to major habitat loss in Borneo the Bay Cat was reclassified in 2005 as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Borneo has three wildlife reserves in existence but they are being invaded by people settling as well as logging. Zoos will pay a lot of money for a live specimen but so far none are officially in captivity.
Picture of the bay cat by Jim Sanderson, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. You can help spreading the word about this animal by liking it on facebook
