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Three days I had planned at the Kinabatanganriver. My target here was to see Proboscis Monkeys and I also hopefully have a better look at Orangutans. Apart from that I will be going out with a guide to try to specifically try to see the Bornean Ground-Cuckoo. I also have another target in mind: Flat-headed Cat! This cat gets seen near this river, however usually for that to happen the water level has to be low and that’s not the case right now. For my first two nights here I did my best to find it, but for my last night I am not really hoping for anything anymore.
For the last evening I stick with the regular boat ride organised by the lodge. This is a short boat ride on which I don’t expect to see much. And indeed we encounter a Slow Loris and some other normal stuff. Suddenly the boat driver spots some eyeshine. Thinking it will be yet another civet, I aim my torch. Then the animal suddenly stands up and walks away. Immediately I see that it is not a civet: I see a rather thick body all dark grey with white on the inside of the legs. With my camera in one hand I am able to get two pictures. The boat driver confirms what I already suspected: that was a Flat-headed Cat…
I feel pretty bad that I hadn’t immediately tried to see it with my binoculars because I probably would have been able to see it very well. The picture is really crappy too, although actually it is not as blurry as it could have been, considering I shot it with 1/16 handheld with one hand, but what mainly went wrong is that the camera focused on the branches in front of the cat instead of on the cat itself.
Flat-headed Cat
Fortunately there is always Wikipedia and the photos and the video that are posted there, give a bit of an idea of how it looked to me. With a bit of good will some characteristics of the cat can also be seen on the picture, like the dark coat and the white belly and inside of the legs, but it’s clear that this was not a great sighting.
Flat-headed Cat (source: Wikipedia)
And a link to the video.
Sadly I was not able to see the head of the cat well, only his body. Still I’m happy to be able to add this species to my list, but I will go back for sure one day to have a better view!
Want to see some more pictures of Borneo?
Find out more about my encounter with Bornean Clouded Leopard!
Finding the very rare Marbled Cat was a really nice experience!
Sunda Leopard Cat is a really beautiful cat too!
Seeing the Bornean Ground Cuckoo at last was a big relief!
Or see more of the beautiful civets of Borneo including the rare Otter Civet!
Owls are never boring and there are some nice ones on Borneo!
And here is a tripreport!
