November 8, 2017

The City Of Talisay turns over an endangered Visayan Leopard Cat (Pronailurus javanensis rabori) or commonly known as "Maral" to the Negros Forest Ecological Foundation Inc.(NFEFI) Wildlife Captive Center in Bacolod City this morning.

Found and captured in the sugarcane fields of Hacienda Labayen, Barangay Matab-ang, Archie Maquiling turned over to City Environment Officer - Designate, Engineer Warren Paduano who in turn brought the Maral kitten to Mr. Paul Lizares, President of NFEFI, David Castor, Project Manager and Briexel Martinez, Wildlife Captive Center Curator.

This is the third time that a Maral kitten was turned over to the NFEFI during the administration of Mayor Neil E. Lizares. But one captive adult Maral was released late last year in upper Campuestuhan, Barangay Cabatangan.

The Visayan leopard cat is a Sunda leopard cat subspecies described in 1997 on the basis of morphological analysis of a skin and skull collected in Negros.[2] It is endemic to the Philippine Islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay, and has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2008 as its range is estimated to be less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi).

It is probably locally extinct or close to extinction on the islands of Cebu and Masbate, and persists foremost on Panay and Negros, both of which have lost 90–95 % of their natural habitat.

Photos by Jonaz Lojera Delleva