Footprints in the mud

I found these animal footprints in the mud at Lanchang Modern Farm complex.





I am not very sure what it was from ( any footprint experts out there ?).





Several people nearby said it was from a tiger (Panthera tigris) , but I am not sure about this. Certainly the claws are big enough. I am aware that there a few types of wild cats in Malaysia. In addition to Tigers there are also Leopards (Panthara pardus), Clouded leopards (Neofelis nebulosa), Marbled cats (Pardofelis marmorata) , fishing cats (Prionailurus sp) and jungle cats (Felis chaus). Am also not sure how we would tell their footprints apart.



I guess there is enough prey around for large predators. There is abundant wild boar and quite a lot of small deer. Monkeys are in the area , but (fortunately) not seen often at this farm site.





You can compare the above to the picture at http://www.geocities.com/nicchg/image/footprint.jpg





Anyway, I'd LIKE to think its a tiger. Anyway better than being just a dog with long claws. According to the WWF there are less than 10,000 tigers left in Malaysia. Occasionally you read of human-tiger conflicts ( this or that poor boy attacked) , but for the most part I think the local tigers are pretty good at avoiding people. They are lovely & amazing animals. Yes; defiantly would happy to have one near the farm, and yes they are welcome to eat all the dogs they can find .





I am thinking to buy one of those automatic infrared "wildlife cameras" in order to study what goes on at night at the farm (though maybe we don't want to know... especially if it involves frisky long clawed dogs). It seems wildlife cameras are not available locally, so looks like I need to order one on-line . Any ideas ? I'll start saving for it soon ( see :http://kgbcameras.co.uk/cameras/wildlife%20camera%20on%20tree.jpg)





Here's' another footprint I found about 1 km away from the tiger (or long-clawed dog). Looks like a deer (which is pretty common) ; I am thinking probably mouse-deer (Tragulus javanicus) as it was quite small.



The lesser mousdeer is said to be the smallet ungulate in the world , weighing in at only 2 kg. No doubt its small size has helped it to adapt to farm and semi-urban enviroments. Anyway you see a lot of them in farms throughout Malaysia.


Now.... if I can only get my camera ready in time before the next mouse deer darts away I can post a picture for you . Else you need to wait untill I get my wildlife camera (You listening Santa ?)