Flat-headed Cat (Prionailurus planiceps) Classification

Paper in Indonesian

Fikri, Husnul & Novarino, Wilson & Rizaldi, Rizaldi & Iqbal, Muhammad. (2024). PEMODELAN DISTRIBUSI KUCING TANDANG (Prionailurus planiceps) DI KAWASAN RESTORASI EKOSISTEM RIAU DI SEMENANJUNG KAMPAR, RIAU. EKOLOGIA. 24. 11-21.

This study focused on the daily activity of flat-headed cats Prionailurus planiceps, which are currently recognized as endangered.

Activity of one male and one female cat in captivity was observed from 8–15 June 2017 by using video cameras at the Department of Conservation and Animal Health Research, Songkhla Zoo, Songkla Province, Thailand. Observations were gathered on each individual by ad libitum sampling for 24 hours (daytime 06:00–18:00 and nighttime 18:00–06:00). The observed behaviors and time budget were recorded and used for constructing an ethogram. Finally, the daily activities were analyzed and compared between the male and female.

The activity patterns of the cats could be classified into six categories: maintenance, feeding, rest, affiliation, aggression, and vigilance. The cats were commonly active at night and rested during the daytime. The male cat spent more time to rest during the day and was more active than the female at nighttime. Meanwhile, the female presented longer periods of affiliation behavior than the male during daytime and spent more time feeding than the male at night. In addition, the activity patterns of these flat-headed cats were similar to the natural activity of leopard cats P. bengalensis and other felids in the genera Felis and Leopardus.

Danaisawadi, Patchara & Piriyarom, Sutida & Krasaeden, Warit & Pramkasem, Satreerat & Rurkkhum, Saranya & Yimprasert, Surasak. (2023). Time Budget and Activity Patterns During the Mating Period of Flat-headed Cat Prionailurus planiceps in Captivity. Tropical Natural History. 221-228. 10.58837/tnh.23.7.258833.

Sarawak is the largest state in the megadiverse country of Malaysia. Its rich biodiversity is threatened by land-use change and hunting, with mammalian carnivores particularly affected. Data on the ecology, occurrence and distribution of small carnivores are crucial to inform their effective conservation, but no large-scale assessments have previously been conducted in Sarawak.

Here we examine the status of the five species of felids in Sarawak based on data from camera-trap studies over 17 years (May 2003-February 2021) across 31 study areas, including protected areas of various sizes, production forests and forest matrix within oil palm plantations.

Felids were detected at 39% of 845 camera stations. The marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata and Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi had higher probabilities of occurrence in protected than unprotected areas, and vice versa for the leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis and bay cat Catopuma badia. The marbled and bay cats were mostly diurnal, and the leopard cat was predominantly nocturnal; activity patterns did not substantively differ between protected and unprotected sites. The probabilities of occurrence of marbled and bay cats increased with greater distance from roads. The leopard cat and flat-headed cat Prionailurus planiceps were more likely, and the clouded leopard less likely, to occur near rivers. Flat-headed cats preferred peat swamp forest, bay cats lowland forest, and marbled cats and clouded leopards occurred in both lowland and montane forest.

Felids may tolerate higher elevations to avoid anthropogenic disturbance; therefore, it is critical to preserve lowland and mid-elevation habitats that provide refugia from climate change and the destruction of lowland habitat.

Mohd-Azlan, J.; Kaicheen, S.S.; Hong, L.L.C.; Yi, M.C.K.; Maiwald, M.J.; Helmy, O.E.; Giordano, A.J.; Brodie, J.F.
Ecology, occurrence and distribution of wild felids in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
2022 Oryx (57): 252-261