KOTA KINABALU, July 18 — The island of Mabul, off the east coast of Sabah, is known to have some of the best dives in the country.

Thousands throng to the island every year; famed for its proximity to the world-renowned Sipadan Island, it has since garnered a reputation of its own for muck and macro diving.

But in recent years, it’s not just the diving that has tourists talking but the sheer number of cats that roam the island.

At every turn, whether in dive resorts or on a stroll into the island’s Bajau Laut community village, cats can be seen lazing, walking, looking for food or playing with humans.

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The island, which is home to a community of mostly fishermen, is about 20 hectares in size, and has about a dozen middle- to high-end dive resorts, plus a handful of homestay-style lodges.

Tourists are a common everyday sight, but there are likely as many tourists as there are cats on the island.

Although it is near impossible to know their actual numbers, it is estimated that there are well over 1,000 cats, owing to the number of households and resorts that own multiple cats.

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One non-profit organisation, along with a dive outfit based on the island, Scuba Junkie, has come up with a plan to control the cat population before it spins out of control.

A cat village

“What we know now is there are more than 2,000 people on the island. We found each house has on average two cats with some having even more. Five or six cats were not uncommon and we even saw a house with 14 cats. So I think it is safe to say there are at least 1,000 cats on the island,” said Borneo Animal Welfare Society of Sabah (BAWSS) co-founder Tracy Hilda Dukim.

Borneo Animal Welfare Society of Sabah president and co-founder Shima Rahman (right) talking to the children and villagers of Mabul island about the benefits of neutering and spaying cats. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography
Borneo Animal Welfare Society of Sabah president and co-founder Shima Rahman (right) talking to the children and villagers of Mabul island about the benefits of neutering and spaying cats. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography

“The result is there are a lot of health issues for the cats. Over the years, we have seen many with serious injuries as a result of fighting with other cats and infections/viruses are rife due to the overpopulation of cats. This not only affects the stray population, but also those that are pets,” said Scuba Junkie SEAS conservation manager David McCann.

“We have also seen people trying to carry out their own treatments on the island, including attempted neutering using a rubber band and euthanasia using ropes.

“It was absolutely horrendous! In the case of the rope, the poor thing had mange so I think someone had decided to get rid of it and this was the technique they chose to employ,” said McCann, who has lived on the island for about five years.

The cats roam freely and although the local community is tolerant, many defecate as they please and are in poor health.

As the human population on the island grew over the years, the number of households choosing to have cats as pets has also increased. These animals do not have access to any veterinary treatment, including neutering or spaying, and so the population has grown unrestricted.

A long-term solution

McCann first reached out to BAWSS several years ago and shortly after, the first clinic was set up on Mabul.

Despite the island's Bajau Laut community's love of cats, many are strays and are not well cared for, often requiring treatment for diseases and infections and worms. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography
Despite the island's Bajau Laut community's love of cats, many are strays and are not well cared for, often requiring treatment for diseases and infections and worms. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography

This was during the company’s annual Marine Week event in December 2016, where

Scuba Junkie sponsored the cost of transport, food and accommodation for the BAWSS team, and also covered treatment costs to allow the clinic to be free for the local community.

“Very few cats on Mabul are able to get veterinary treatment due to travel and treatment expenses. These are prohibitive for the local community. We wanted to overcome this by providing free treatment,” he said.

A preliminary clinic in 2016 was a trial to allow the BAWSS team to “get a feel” of the situation on Mabul and allow them to devise a long-term programme aimed at improving the general health of the cat population on the island and bringing the cat population under control.

During this first clinic, they neutered 45 cats over three days and treated a number of others for various skin and eye infections and worms.

“But we had only scratched the surface of the issue. When we released one animal, it was very quickly replaced with another.

“Also, on a number of occasions children were observed playing with their cats in a very rough manner. The BAWSS team was able to explain how to look after their pets properly and show affection to the animals without causing undue stress or injury,” said McCann.

Recently, the NGO made their second visit, this time with a long-term plan including a series of quarterly clinics, as well as awareness programme.

The team, which consisted of one veterinarian, one vet assistant, five runners to capture cats and do the community work and an odd volunteer or two, treated a total of 56 cats for worms and skin diseases, and neutered 40 of them.

An additional 10 kittens were treated for worms and eye infections and some took the opportunity to bring in their ducks which got caught on fishing lines that had cut very deep into their legs.

The team also met with village leaders and the Imam to explain who they were and why the programme was needed, including sharing a decree from the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) stating that animal neutering is acceptable if it benefits the animals and the community.

“After the success of the first clinic — not just the surgery, but the outreach programme too — we noticed that there was more community involvement at the second clinic. Quite a few families and resorts brought their pets in for treatment,” said McCann, adding that the team treated every animal brought to them.

Dr. Laura Benedict (left) and vet assistant Rabecca Dominic treating an infected kitten on the island. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography
Dr. Laura Benedict (left) and vet assistant Rabecca Dominic treating an infected kitten on the island. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography

Dukim said that the plan is to have a clinic on the island every three months until they have neutered roughly 90 per cent of the population, not an easy feat given the fast reproductive cycle of cats.

“A stabilised and (over time) reduced community cat population will reduce the number of nuisance complaints in the resorts and in the villages.

“Most of the cats we neuter have owners/feeders. By neutering these cats, there will be no more new litters. The neutered cats are healthier, no longer fight to mate and get injuries, thus they tend to live longer than those who are not neutered. To be effective, we need to at least neuter 20 to 30 per cent of the cats every six months.

A catching problem

Dukim said that among the challenges faced for a typical trap and neuter and release (TNR) programme is the local community does not understand the benefits of neutering or spaying their cats.

“So we had to spend a lot of time discussing the issue with the local community and educating them on the benefit for both the cats’ health and the community’s health.

The island, although small in size, and can be crossed in about 30 minutes, can be challenging to take on by foot, and loaded with equipment.

“Our team had to walk everywhere with lots of traps and carriers. Then once we had the cats, we had to carry them all back. It's safe to say our team was exhausted from walking around the island carrying so many cats,” said Dukim.

The task of neutering and spaying cats involve catching them and keeping them before and after operation. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography
The task of neutering and spaying cats involve catching them and keeping them before and after operation. — Picture courtesy of Christian Loader Photography

Catching the stray cats also posed a problem.

“They are very suspicious of our intentions and will often run at the first sight of you. Luckily the locals had already gained the trust of many cats and were able to help us,” she said.

There were also limited cages and carriers, so the team could only treat a certain number of cats and house them for recovery.

With a plan securely in place to tackle the cat population, the challenge now lies in sustainable funding.

“Like all non-profits, BAWSS is self-funded and all of us are volunteers including our vet and nurse. This time we are very grateful to Scuba Junkie for their generous support to sponsor our flight tickets, medicine and accommodation.

“This is just one of the many TNR clinics in Mabul. Now we just need to begin raising funds,” said Dukim

Without paying any of the volunteers, a two-day clinic in Mabul costs roughly RM3,000 for the medication and flights and some transfers, not including food, transfers and accommodation already covered by Scuba Junkie.

“However for this to be sustainable, we need to start paying for local vets so we can spend more time in a location and treat more animals. Eventually, we would like to get to a place where we are running week-long clinics and supporting our vets so they don't lose work hours,” she said.

She estimated that the organisation would need about RM8,000 to run a clinic for a week.