Marbled Cat stakes out fruiting Ficus variegata at Beluran Safari, East Sabah

This relaxed Marbled Cat staking out a fruiting Ficus variegata next to the road  at Beluran Safari, appears  unfazed by the presence of a group of mammal watching tourists organized by 1StopBorneo Wildlife.

Beluran Safari is a Forest Management Unit  made up of a mixture of logged and virgin forest near Sandakan in East Sabah, where timber is extracted on a sustainable basis under strict conservation rules including no hunting of any sort.

A very large Ficus variegata  next to the jeep track  at Beluran Safari fruits prolifically several times a year attracting the locally abundant wildlife including Sun Bears, civets and giant fruit bats, as well as the occasional Marbled Cat or Clouded Leopard.

Thanks to Yulinda Wahyuni and 1Stop Borneo for information and photographs.