Cambodian researchers have taken photos of a rare spotted linsang, a jungle cat, in Kirirom National Park, according to an environmental news service based in Geneva.
The sighting was the first ever in Cambodia, according to the news service.
A wildlife survey using camera traps in several locations in Cambodia recorded additional photos of tigers and leopards, clouded leopards, marbled cats, sun bears, Asian elephants, Asian wild dogs, gaur and banteng. The survey revealed more than 60 varieties of large mammals.
“This effort is an important first step toward identifying where we are going to have the greatest chance of conserving critically endangered wildlife species in Cambodia,” said Seng Teak, program coordinator for the World Wildlife Fund Cambodia office.
The Cambodian researchers were aided by the World Wildlife Fund, an independent foundation based in Switzerland, and the Wildlife Conservation Society, based at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
“Years of war and its tragic aftermath may have kept people from plundering this treasure trove of wildlife,” said Judy Mills, coordinator of the WWF’s tiger program.
“But today, people are flocking to extract the forest’s riches. These photos prove the extreme urgency of getting wildlife laws and anti-poaching measures in place in Cambodia.”
Many of the species caught on the trap live outside protected areas, or in logging concession areas.
The two wildlife organizations have been training Cambodians on conservation methods since 1998.
