Thursday, March 15, 2007

Borneo Leopards, Oh My!!



The clouded leopard of Borneo has been proved to be a separate species. Cool!! New Leopard Species Found in Borneo:
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia - The clouded leopard of Borneo — discovered to be an entirely new species — is the latest in a growing list of animals and plants unique to the Southeast Asian country's rainforest and underscores the need to preserve the area, conservationists said Thursday.

Genetic tests by researchers at the U.S. National Cancer Institute revealed that the clouded leopard of Borneo and Sumatra islands is a unique cat species and not the same one found in mainland Southeast Asia as long believed, said a statement by WWF, the global conservation organization.

"Who said a leopard can never change its spots? For over a hundred years we have been looking at this animal and never realized it was unique," said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo program, which is dedicated to preserving the flora and fauna in the deep jungles on Borneo.
Excellent.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

There was a story on the leopard on our news tonight in New Zealand. I thought it was beautiful and pretty amazing to find a new species in this day and age.

four legs good said...

Me too.

Nice to have readers in NZ as well.