Rare Sumatran striped rabbit Photographing

One of the short-eared rabbit Sumatra(Nesolagus netscheri). This species has very few individuals - only three copies have been spotted in the last decade - living in habitats very complicated. And yet, is a key element in the ecosystems they inhabit. A few days ago he had heard of such a test was divided into a new location.

What researchers have found are some pictures of a few individuals in a National Park island. The images were obtained using the technique of camera traps.

 This method is to hide cameras in key locations of the ecosystem. The cameras are connected to a system that detects the presence of the animal, usually a motion sensor that triggers the photo.

It is curious that the team has obtained the photos were not looking for this animal. In fact, they could not think this had a population of rabbits in that area. His work focuses mainly on cats like the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebula) or the Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii). But the camera sensors do not distinguish between them and other animals, and as a result the images obtained.

This finding is important for two reasons. On the one hand, has served to better understand how the ecosystem structure. The importance of the rabbit of Sumatra, to which we referred earlier, is based on its role as the main prey cat species inhabiting forests. By better understanding how an ecosystem and the species that live there, you can design better plans for the protection of both in one or the other.

And the second reason is that it provides one more argument, and of some importance, to improve the protection of the place where found. The photos were obtained within the National Park of Bukit Barinas Selatan, in southern Sumatra. This protected area is of enormous importance because it contains the last remaining free-living Sumatran rhinoceros (sumatrensis Dicerorhinus)and Sumatran tiger (Panthera tigris sumatrae).

This National Park is very threatened by the expansion of human settlements. In fact, in the last decade has begun to lose some of its area, which is dedicated to the cultivation of oil palm and coffee.