Posted on 03/27/2010 7:52:19 AM PDT by llevrok
If you believe the myth that all cats hate getting wet, then you've yet to meet the flat-headed cat. With webbed feet and a streamlined head perfectly adapted for speed in the water, these strange felines not only like the water, they practically live in it. They are also recognized as the world's least known feline.
And unfortunately, they may remain mysterious. According to National Geographic, a new study published in the journal PLoS ONE has indicated that the flat-headed cat's habitat is rapidly being transformed into vast biofuel plantations.
Native to the swampy peat forests of Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia, the cats are nocturnal, elusive, tiny (they typically weigh between 3-5 pounds) and difficult to observe. There are also only two flat-headed cats in captivity anywhere in the world — both in zoos in Malaysia — so little is known about them.
To get an idea of how their population was faring, researchers pieced together scattered records of flat-headed cat sightings since 1984. They also developed a computer model to predict how the cat's historical population and distribution might be effected by modern changes to their habitat.
What they found was shocking. Almost 70 percent of the area that historically provided good habitats for the flat-headed cat has already been converted into plantations, mostly for the purpose of growing biofuel. Furthermore, their remaining range has become fragmented, likely making it difficult for remote populations of the cat to breed with one another. Only 16 percent of that leftover land is currently contained within areas that are protected according to the criteria of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Thus, with an estimated baseline population of only around 2,500 individuals to start with, it's likely that the flat-headed cat is in dire straights.
The cat's predicament is not unique in the region where it lives. Tropical Southeast Asia has both one of the highest rates of biodiversity and highest rates of deforestation worldwide. Much of that deforestation is for the purpose of planting palms, a cash crop destined for the biofuel market.
Andreas Wilting of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, who co-authored the new study, hopes that new awareness surrounding the plight of the flat-headed cat can help bring about protections for all species threatened in the region.
"The next step is to gain further information about the ecology of this little known species and to enforce the protection and thus ensure the sustainability of the key remaining forest habitats," Wilting said.
Thus, the ultimate fate of the flat-headed cat may rest on whether this unknown but charismatic feline can break into the mainstream.
Awwwww, I’ll take one!!!
Wow that's a conundrum that will make liberals heads explode....biofuel or species preservation....aaaarrghh...blam!
What a strange little creature. Never heard of them.
“They also developed a computer model to predict how the cat’s historical population and distribution might be effected by modern changes to their habitat.”
Here we go again with the “computer model”.
Simple...catch a female, and a male...put them together for one year...problem solved...it’s hard for me to believe that ANY cat becomes extinct...
Our local zoo has a cat from somewhere in Africa...looks very cute and harmless, but the keeper said he could never be a house pet. He would rip you to shreds.
Don't you wish it was a flat-headed whale? Now THAT would be a libtard conundrum worth watching (not that this one isn't). Or polar bears -- the new "in" species.
No such thing as a liberal conundrum. They will always err on the side against humanity, unless it impacts them directly.
If they are worth anything, there are plenty of flat headed cats on my road.
In that case the true ‘’enviro-warrior/tree-hugger’’ will opt to.....kill themselves, that’s it!! “I will sacrifice my life for nature!’’:-)
LOL...Here we go again. Computer models are so accurate, especially if you add the data you want to skew the model...LOL
Great idea. In order to expand the cat's range, you could distribute them by having some cute little girls sit at the entrance of a mall with a sign that reads "free kittens" and a cardboard box full of kittens.
It's a shame Dr. Suess is gone. He could write a book, "The Flat-Headed Cat Needs A Hat", and rally public opinion... /g
What are people thinking? You don’t use flat heads on cats, you use phillip heads.
We do seem to be a bit short of sabertooth tigers...seriously, there was one darling little species of tigers about the size of a boxer dog that is now extinct. Balinese or Siamese or something.
LOLOLOL!!! Good one.
Ran them over with your truck, eh? LOL
Yeah, but are their heads big enough to set down a beer can on one?
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