Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
seen. It can dive, swim, and catch fish or hunt for birds. It will also eat carrion,
fruit, leaves, and shoots.
Mongooses are common predators in the West Malesian subregion. They
resemble civets in appearance and distribution, but they tend to be smaller with
more uniformly colored fur. Mongooses have long bodies, short limbs, and five
toes on each foot. Their claws are not retractable. Most mongooses are diurnal and
form large social groups. They are known for their ability to kill and eat snakes,
including cobras.
The sun bear and sloth bear are the only members of the bear family found in
the rainforests of West Malesia. The sun bear lives in Southeast Asia, Myanmar,
Malaysia, Sumatra, Borneo, and the Assam region of India. It spends most of its
time in trees eating lizards, birds, fruit, ants, termites, and honey. The sloth bear
lives in southern India and Sri Lanka and feeds largely on termites and bees. Bear
populations are in steep decline due to loss of habitat and hunting. Bear gallblad-
ders are thought to have great medicinal value and are used throughout Asia. Bears
are also hunted for their skins and meat.
Small, medium, and large cats are found in the West Malesian subregion. The
leopard cat is the size of a domestic cat and has brown fur with lines of black spots
on its back. The Asian golden cat is about twice the size of a leopard cat with a
small head and long legs. Although mostly terrestrial, it climbs well and hunts day
or night in search of birds and small ungulates. The Asian golden cat population is
threatened throughout its range due to deforestation. The leopard cat is more
adaptable to deforestation, but it is heavily hunted for the fur trade. The fishing cat
is another small feline of India and Southeast Asia.
The clouded leopard lives in the forests from Southeast Asia to Java. It is the
only species within its genus. The coat of the clouded leopard is yellow with dark
markings that form circles and ovals (clouds). The forehead and tail are spotted.
The clouded leopard is largely arboreal and hunts in trees or pounces on prey on
the ground from the trees above. Prey includes birds, monkeys, pigs, goats, and
deer. The clouded leopard is endangered due to loss of forested land. These cats
have been excessively hunted for their valuable pelts, which are traded on the black
market.
The largest of the Asian cats are leopards and tigers. The spotted leopard is a
large cat with a very long tail. The spotted leopard's fur can be straw-colored and
spotted or completely black (these are often called black panthers). Leopards are
nocturnal, resting in trees during the day. Their diet varies from monkeys and
ungulates to rodents, rabbits, and birds. Several subspecies of spotted leopard are
endangered. Forest destruction, loss of prey, as well as hunting for trophy, or its
beautiful fur, are responsible for the small number of spotted leopards alive today.
Indonesian and Sumatran tigers are still present in the West Malesian subre-
gion of the Asian-Pacific rainforest, although numbers are dwindling. These tigers
are smaller than their Siberian cousins, but they are the largest carnivore in the
rainforest. Tigers are nocturnal, solitary hunters that are extremely powerful. They
 
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