Borneo offers rare wildlife for gap year travellers
Borneo's state of Sabah has boosted its environmental credentials further after the world's rarest otter was rediscovered by conservationists.
The hairy-nosed otter was photographed in the Deramakot Forest Reserve in Sabah, the state where Raleigh bases its Borneo expedition, more than 100 years after its last recorded sighting of one alive.
Andreas Wilting, who has been working on a conservation project for Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW) told the BBC: "Even over the whole island of Borneo the last record, a road-kill from Brunei, was 1997. Therefore it was unknown to scientists if this species can be still found on Borneo.
"Also outside of Borneo it is just known from a few localities throughout its distribution and in general it is very rare," he told the BBC.
"This is great news for Sabah and shows once again how unique and fortunate we are in terms of wildlife and nature," added Dr Laurentius Ambu, director of the Sabah Wildlife Department.
