Japan takes new direction in effort to save a rare wildcat

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http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/features/news/20061110p2g00m0fe005000c.html

 

Japan takes new direction in effort to save a rare

wildcat

 

IRIOMOTE NATIONAL PARK -- The steamy, hazy jungle

thrums with trilling insects, singing frogs and the

steady gurgle of rushing water as we cut through

thickets of head-high ferns.

 

Prowling somewhere in the emerald underbrush is the

big prize of our safari -- one of the planet's rarest

wildcats.

 

A cat so rare, it was discovered only in 1965. So

threatened, only about 100 exist. It lives only on

this 110-square-mile Pacific island. Yet the elusive

Iriomote cat is more than just an endangered species.

 

Heroic efforts to save it from extinction symbolize an

about-turn in Japan's long-tortured relationship with

Mother Nature. Not only does the struggle underscore

the country's newfound determination to redress

decades of environmental devastation for

industrialization, it proves just how tough reversing

the damage can be.

 

" The wildcat's barely hanging on, " says our guide,

Maki Okamura, a scientist at the Environment

Ministry's Iriomote Wildlife Conservation Center.

" Even if we lose just one, it has a huge impact, " she

says.

 

The mottled, dark brown cat with its rounded, clublike

tail is only the size of a house tabby, and the

jungles of its namesake island are nearly

impenetrable. But Okamura knows every fold in the

forest and stops to hunt for footprints, scat and

other signs.

 

One of Japan's southernmost points, coral-fringed

Iriomote is known as Asia's Galapagos for its primeval

tropical forests and one-of-a-kind wildlife.

 

The wildcat evolved as an isolated offshoot of

mainland Asia's so-called leopard cat, another small

cat unrelated to the true leopard.

 

For most of that time, outsiders steered clear of

Iriomote's malarial swamps.

 

But after World War II, sugar cane farmers and cattle

ranchers moved in -- as did scientists curious about

sightings of a strange " mountain cat. "

 

The discovery gave Japan a rare chance to redeem a

dismal conservation record.

 

Wolves are one of four mammals that disappeared in

Japan's breakneck industrial development, while the

crested ibis and red-crowned crane are all but

extinct. Short-tailed albatrosses were nearly hunted

into oblivion for their feathers. Then came commercial

whaling.

 

Japan set up an environment agency in 1971, but it

still took another 20 years to get an endangered

species list. Meanwhile, 47 animals died out. Another

303 are still on the brink.

 

" Things are getting better, but there's still a long

way to go, " says Hidenori Kusakari, a lobbyist for the

World Wildlife Fund in Japan.

 

In recent years, however, environmentalists have won

more lawsuits against polluters and blocked

development plans that threaten habitats. The Iriomote

cat is the big test.

 

" We still have time to save it, " Okamura says.

 

Habitat loss, interbreeding with house cats, the

spread of new diseases, stray dogs and the

introduction of crab traps have all pushed up

mortality rates. Traffic is the No. 1 killer, claiming

one or two cats each year. (AP)

 

November 10, 2006