Bay cat in Sabah

During our trip in Malaysia earlier this year we met a couple of fellow wildlife enthousiasts in Borneo. They had some info that may be of interest for other mammalwatchers.
They had spent a few days in a forest reserve called Deramakot. In this reserve they experiment with sustainable logging and more importantly for mammalwatchers, it seems to be a very good place to see some rare species. A camera trapping study revealed the presence of flat-headed cat, clouded leopard, otter civet, hairy-nosed otter, banded palm civet, sun bear and tembadau. Our friends hired the jeep of the rangers (with driver) for a whole day for 400 RM. They were mainly after elephants and orangutans. Although they saw plenty of elephant tracks and old orangutan nests, they did not see their targets in the reserve. During spotlighting they did see a bay cat!!! They got a very good look at it as the ranger’s initial determination was flat-headed cat but the animal was too big and uniformly colored to be any other species. Unfortunately they did not get a picture of it… There were also plenty of tembadau tracks.
It sounds like a very interesting location, with many opportunities to see some really nice species, off the beaten path, with apparently nice lodging facilities. We were really sorry that we hadn’t heard about the place while planning our trip and unfortunately we didn’t have any spare time to go there.
The costs were 40RM pppn for the stay and 90RM for 3 meals a day. Those wishing to stay have to obtain a permit from the Sabah Forestry Department (sam.mannan@sabah.gov.my, 089-671306).
More info is here:
http://www.deramakot.sabah.gov.my/

And for those who like to watch some mammal (and bird) pictures while dreaming about encountering all these great forest species: there is a compilation of camera trap photos made by the WWF Malaysia on youtube. It are pictures from the Peninsula, not Borneo.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mraq9gwnBr0.

Stefanie