Small and Medium Sized Cats in Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia

Small and medium cat diversity and spatio-temporal distribution in Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, Indonesia, was recorded between March and October 2010. A pair of infra-red cameras was set up in each of the 68 locations resulting in 54 independent events of small and medium cats in 3,452 trap nights. Four of the five small and medium cat species confirmed to inhabit Sumatra were photographed: Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii, Sunda clouded leopard Neofelis diardi, marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis. Golden cat was the most frequently photographed species (0.72 independent event per 100 trap nights), followed by clouded leopard (0.41), marbled cat (0.23) and leopard cat (0.20). Golden cats were predominantly photographed in montane forests 1,800/1,900-2,400/2,500m (34%), marbled cats in medium elevation hills 400/500-800/900m (38%) and montane forests (38%), clouded leopards in medium elevation hills (43%) and leopard cats were mostly found in the lowlands <150m (100%). Golden cats seemed to be diurnal, clouded leopards and marbled cats were active at dawn/dusk, and leopard cats were strongly nocturnal. Trade in Medan of clouded leopard and golden cat (live and stuffed specimens) indicates some level of harvest of these small and medium cats, but data are insufficient to determine whether such harvest is a significant threat.