GENEVA (Dec. 6) - Environmental researchers are preparing to capture what they call a new, mysterious species of carnivore on Borneo, the first such discovery on the wildlife-rich Indonesian island in over a century.
Swiss-based environmental group WWF said on Monday its researchers photographed the strange animal, which looks like a cross between a cat and a fox, in the dense, central mountainous rainforests of Borneo.
''This could be the first time in more than a century that a new carnivore has been discovered on the island,'' said the WWF in a statement.
The mammal, slightly larger than a cat with red fur and a long tail, was photographed twice by a camera trap at night.
Locals and wildlife experts who viewed photographs of the animal, which has very small ears and large hind legs, said they had never seen such a creature before and were convinced that it was a new species, WWF said.
Researchers hope to confirm the discovery by setting cage traps to catch a live specimen, but warn that Indonesian government plans to clear the rainforest to create the world's largest palm oil plantation may interfere with plans, WWF said. The proposed plantation scheme, funded by the China Development Bank, is expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares, equivalent to about half the size of The Netherlands, said the WWF, formerly known as the World Wide Fund for Nature.
The potential new species of carnivore in Borneo would be the first since the discovery of the Borneo ferret-badger in 1895, the WWF said.
Pictures of the animal were first taken by WWF researchers in 2003, the photos kept unpublished by the WWF as research continued. The WWF decided to make public the photos with the release of a book about Borneo, to be published on Tuesday.
Its so horrible that they are gonna destroy that much of the rainforest there for palm oil.
NARUTO + BLEACH doesn't even come close to the BEST MANGA= ONE PIECE
Yeah, well, after all, they're going to capture it, kill it, and cook it to find out what they taste like.
I don't think half the toilet seats in the world are as clean as I should like; and only half of those are half as clean as they deserve. - tsubaimomo, July 26, 2010 3:00 am
I think you mean the IMF (International Monitary Fund) and not the WWF (World Wresteling Federation).
Indonesia, like many developing countries, relies heavily upon its primary level economic industries: like farming. Unfortunately, land in tropical areas is often unsustainable under post-Green Revolution western industrial agricultural methods, which are in turn foisted upon the citizens of those countries as conditions of IMF loans etc.
Since the land isn't sustainable, the farmers are obligated to cut down more and more rainforest in order to continue to grow crops in a desperate attempt to get out from under the massive debts they and their country owe to the multinational food corporations and international bodies like the IMF.
It's cyclic.
What really needs to happen is this.
1 - We forgive the entirety of the debt, no questions asked.
2 - We invest billions to attempt to restore destroyed lands to a state where traditional methods of agriculture can be used.
3 - We remove outside influences forcing farmers to utilize monocroping in favor of multi-cropped system.
Once that's been done the economic need to cut down vast tracts of rainforest will abate somewhat.
For the long term, the IMF needs to change its policies such that its loans are no longer tied to specific conditionals in agricultural practices. At the same time, the Davos Round requests of the WTO need to be enacted by the West. Agricultural subsidies in the US and the EU should be abandoned to help ensure that farming remains a viable persuit for the developing world. At the same time, the internationalization of global regulations on growth hormones, antibiotics, and feed can help regulate the safty of the food supply.
This isn't hard at all - it just requires the governments of the western world to throw down inconsequential sums of money (in comparison to their overall expenditures) and, at the same time, be willing to deny agricultural subsidies, not to Ma and Pa Farmer, but to the vast multi-nationals that receive the agricultural subsidies in the first place.
Steeples scrape the sky, Praising God.
Everything here exists for God, is sacrificed to God.
For those who have nothing to sacrifice,
It can be a very heartless city indeed.
