Scientists have discovered an entirely new species of cat - the clouded leopard - found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, the Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF) said Tuesday.

The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland South-East Asia, it said.

However, “genetic research results clearly indicate that the clouded leopards of Borneo should be considered a separate species,” said Dr Stephen O’Brien, head of the Laboratory of Genomic Diversity of the US National Cancer Institute.

“DNA tests highlighted around 40 differences between the two species.”

That meant the Borneo and the mainland clouded leopard differ as much as a lion, tiger, jaguar or snow-leopard differentiates from each other.

The institute believed the Borneo population diverged from the mainland population some 1.4 million years ago.

The Borneo cat has small cloud markings, many distinct spots within the cloud markings, greyer fur and a double dorsal stripe, the WWF report said. It is altogether darker than the mainland species.

The ones from the mainland have large clouds on their skin with fewer often faint, spots within the cloud markings, with a tendency toward tawny-coloured fur and a partial double dorsal stripe.

“It is incredible no one has ever noticed these differences though we have been looking at this animal for over a hundred years,” said Stuart Chapman, WWF International Coordinator of the Heart of Borneo Programme.

An earlier report of the WWF identified at least 52 new species of animals and plants over the past year on Borneo.

Today 5,000 to 11,0000 Borneo clouded leopards are estimated there and another 3,000 to 7,000 in Sumatra.

WWF said, the last great forest home of Borneo’s biggest predator is the Heart of Borneo, a 220,000 square-kilometre wild, mountainous region covered with equatorial rainforest in the centre of the island.

After rescuing a cat that had been trapped in a Ninth Street sewer since Monday, a group of animal rescue advocates, neighborhood residents, and Bayonne city workers were puzzled yesterday when they heard meows coming from the same sewer moments later.

It turned out that another cat was trapped in the sewer along with the one so recently rescued. Hours later, rescuers lifted the second cat to safety.

“This one neighborhood is full of stray cats,” said Patty Mulligan, a Bayonne resident and a member of the Hudson County Animal League. “And it’s mating season. Males are running after females, and females are trying to run away from males, even if it’s in the sewer.”

Although they were confident that one of the cats was male and the other female, observers did not know which one was which.

Early yesterday afternoon, they rescued a tabby cat after using a tree-branch to prod it into running into one of two catch-nets that had been set up on both sides of the sewer pipe that runs from the main sewer line in the middle of the street to the curb, Mulligan said.

But shortly after being pulled to safety, the cat ran away. According to Mulligan, neither cat has an owner.

“There’s someone who feeds them, but they live on the street,” she said.

Minutes later, after hearing the meows of the second cat - a black cat that has since been nicknamed “Blackie” - the group learned that their work was not done.

The group set up traps on both ends of the sewer pipe where Blackie was.

Neighborhood residents set up surveillance of the area so that when Blackie finally ran into the trap - shortly after 6 p.m. yesterday - he was quickly pulled out of the sewer.

Though grateful that the situation had a happy ending, Mulligan bemoaned the lack of animal control programs in Bayonne.

“Unfortunately, Bayonne has neighborhoods that are plagued with stray cats,” she said. “There are not enough ‘trap-neuter-release’ programs to address this problem.”

IT was lucky for Beethoven that Kingaroy ambulance officer Travis Comello didn’t mind dog’s breath. If he had, the lively little collie would not be here today.

Mr Comello, a patient transport officer, went above and beyond the call of duty to give the kiss of life to Beethoven recently when the dog choked while playing with a ball.

A reluctant hero, Mr Comello said yesterday he did not even know if administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation on the apparently lifeless dog would even work “but it just happened”.

He said the drama began just after he had arrived back from work at his home in Harris Rd, Kingaroy, when he heard his neighbour, Rosalie Rudd, yelling for help.

When he saw Beethoven lying on the ground, Mr Comello thought at first the animal had been hit by a car but was told he had choked on a ball.

Putting his fingers down the dog’s throat to extract the ball, Mr Comello said Beethoven was still not breathing but he was able to detect a very faint heartbeat.

Cupping his hand into a fist, he put it against Beethoven’s muzzle and blew in a few puffs of air and then pushed firmly on the dog’s ribs.

“To be honest, I didn’t think it would work but she (Mrs Rudd) was so upset that I thought I’m going to at least try,” he said.

Mr Comello said Beethoven had been “completely out of it . . . not moving at all” but after he administered mouth-to-mouth the dog had gasped several times and regained consciousness.

“He was sitting up in five minutes,” he said.

“He was a bit away with the fairies for a while – a bit dopey and disoriented – but in about 10 minutes he was fine. I was amazed.”

Mr Comello, who has been with the ambulance service for nine years, admitted it was the first time he had saved a dog’s life and only thought of trying the kiss of life “because I’d seen something like that on telly”.

Mrs Rudd said Beethoven would probably have died if not for Mr Comello’s quick actions.

You’ve heard of dogs who can track down suspects or find drugs with their noses.

Dogs can be trained to provide all sorts of assistance to human beings. This one sniffs out diabetes in its owner.

Like most 8-year-olds, Nolan Peters loves playing ball with his dog.

But, his black lab is more than just a playmate. Nova is specially trained to detect changes in Nolan’s blood sugar.

If Nolan smells different, Nova alerts Nolan’s mother.

“Especially if his sugar is really out of wack, if its really high she goes crazy, she was nibbling at his toes one day,” says Chris Peters, Nolan’s mother.

Every time Nova’s right about a change in Nolan’s blood sugar she gets a reward.

Peters adds, “that’s the only time she gets a treat. Now she knows that when he smells differently than he’s supposed to, she barks or comes to the side of my bed and sort of walks around until I wake up.”

Before Nova, Chris Peters had to wake her son up in the middle of the night, every night to test his blood sugar.

This black lab restored her sleep and her sanity.

“She is able to put our minds at ease. We’re able to rest soundly at night,” says Peters.

And, Nolan is able to live life more like a healthy 8-year-old.

Dogs like Nova cost between $10,000-$20,000. But, the Juvenile Diabetes Association is auctioning one off at a fundraiser in May.

A young beagle stranded on a mountain ledge proved a bark can be better than a bite by repeatedly howling until help arrived.

A six-man team from the Blount County Fire Department trekked two hours through thick undergrowth on Tuesday to reach a ridge 30 feet above the dog near the Foothills Parkway, bordering the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

Then firefighter John Matlock rappelled down to the foot-wide ledge where the dog was stranded, overlooking a sheer drop of about 125 feet below.

Matlock tucked the pooch in a red bag and, with help from his fellow firefighters, brought the dog back to the top. The beagle was thin and thirsty but OK.

A group of cheerleaders from Heritage High School had camped across the highway the night before and complained they couldn’t get any sleep because of the dog’s howls.

After watching the rescue, they did what cheerleaders do. They cheered.

The dog’s owner, Katie Wilkinson of Walland, claimed the dog Wednesday after he had been taken to an animal shelter. She said the beagle disappeared March 9.

The dog’s name is Hass, short for Hasenfeffer, a German rabbit stew.

Randy Ball, who lives nearby, said he’d heard the dog’s howls through the woods for four days. It was Ball and property owner Max Walker, grandfather of one of the cheerleaders, who decided Tuesday to mount the rescue and call in the firefighters.

Ball said he figures the beagle, which had a collar but no tags, became stuck on the ledge while chasing a deer or other animal.

After deciding to jump into the Grand Haven channel Wednesday afternoon, a dog needed help from the Grand Haven Department of Public Safety to get out.

The dog was being walked around 5:30 p.m. in front of the American Legion when it jumped into the water after some ducks, according to police.

When police arrived, they threw the dog a rope while another officer suited up to enter the water to rescue the dog, police said. The dog grabbed the rope and police were able to pull it toward the side of the channel. The dog eventually lost the rope, so police threw the dog a life jacket, which the dog was able to climb onto until a GHDPS officer was able to help the dog out of the channel.

The dog was in the water for about 10 minutes.

The dog was wrapped in a blanket and placed in the front of one of the emergency vehicles to warm up, police said.

Police lost a red life jacket in the process of the rescue, and are asking that it is returned if it is found.

Alaskan author Pam Flowers made a two day-plus car trip to South Lyon for one reason — the kids.

“I really like to do this because afterward the kids send you letters, and a couple kids will say ‘You inspired me,’” Flowers said. “It makes me feel good to have that affect.”

Flowers will speak and present a slideshow at Sayre Elementary today and at Hardy and Dolsen Elementary Friday as a part of March is Reading Month. Last week, she spoke at Bartlett and Salem, where the students were fascinated from start to finish.

Flowers spoke about her trip across the Arctic Ocean with her eight sled dogs, and about one dog in particular, Anna. Her book, “Big Enough Anna: The Little Sled Dog Who Braved the Arctic,” was being read by students at Bartlett prior to her arrival.

They had not finished the book, and Flowers was sure to provide the dramatic and heroic ending. The title character in the book, Anna, was a small dog who had to outwork other dogs to earn her spot on the team, and she did just that.

“A guy said to me, ‘She is not going to last a week out there and neither are you,’” Flowers told the students.

All the students oohed and aahed at the pictures of her dogs pulling the sled across the snow or just relaxing after a long day of work.

Flowers’ trip took 11 months because she was stranded on an island for five and a half months because warm weather melted the ocean. And she almost didn’t make it to the island because the ice continued to crack beneath her and the dogs.

“The hardest part was when the ice was breaking,” she said. “I thought we were going to die.”

Flowers answered questions from students following her presentation. Most of them were about her dogs, especially Anna.

Only three of her dogs from the trip in 1993 are still alive, Anna being one of them.

Rebecca Wilkinson’s new dog, Milo, calms her when she feels anxious.

“I have high anxiety in public at times,” said Wilkinson, who has autism, a developmental disorder. “(Milo) pushes his head into me,” she said. “That helps regulate my sensory system, which I can’t do on my own.”

Wilkinson, 19, of Gray and Milo, a 2-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, were paired by My Wonderful Dog, a Portland nonprofit organization that provides service dogs for people with disabilities.

For a few weeks in February, Wilkinson trained with Milo in Portland.

“We worked on individualized tasks,” said Wilkinson. For example, “he can remind me to take my medicine and have my things when I go out by pointing to a note on the door of my apartment,” she said.

On March 4, the two graduated from My Wonderful Dog. The ceremony was well-attended, which once would have posed a problem for Wilkinson.

“I had to speak in front of a lot of people,” she said. “Without (Milo) there, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

Wilkinson, who lives alone, is now adjusting sharing her home with a dog.

“It’s been different,” Wilkinson said. “It’s a lifestyle change, but it’s a good one, because I know how much he’s able to help me.”

With Milo, said Wilkinson, “I can do things that I didn’t used to be able to do — or that I would do with much difficulty.”

She recently attended an event at a local church.

“I was able to go into a hall of nearly 200 people and do so successfully with him.”

Milo has also made it easier for Wilkinson to attend her twice-weekly classes at Southern Maine Community College, where she studies computer graphics.

“I give back by helping him as well,” Wilkinson said. “I take care of him, I play with him, and I provide him with a stable place.”

Milo has had many homes during his training, which began when he was only 8 weeks old.

He has lived in a foster home and at summer camps. He spent six months with female inmate trainers at the Maine Correctional Center.

Now, said Wilkinson, “He finally has an actual home.”

Wilkinson will continue to teach Milo as they live together.

“He shows amazing potential to learn,” she said. “He’s always learning new stuff, and it’s really easy to teach him.

“He’s very patient and affectionate,” she said. “We feed off each other for love and comfort and assistance.”

Brittany Welter had a new name for Charlie, her dog, on Wednesday–Lucky Charlie.

The 7-year-old black Labrador retriever mix was safe and only a bit worse for wear inside his Oak Forest home, a day after he fell down an uncovered 10-foot-deep storm sewer as Welter and a friend tried to evade two coyotes in a nearby forest preserve.

Thanks to the rescue efforts of the Oak Forest Fire Department, Charlie survived his ordeal with only a few “bumps and bruises,” said Welter, 17.

“He’s a little swollen in spots, but otherwise he seems to be fine,” said an obviously relieved Welter, an Oak Forest High School student.

Welter and her friend Megan Taylor, also 17, took their dogs for a stroll about 9 p.m. in the forest preserve along 159th Street between Ridgeland and Oak Park Avenues. As they walked through the woods they spotted the two coyotes coming toward them, she said. The girls, plus Charlie and Taylor’s golden retriever, Buddy, ran out of the woods and started moving quickly along Oak Park Avenue.

Suddenly, Welter said, Charlie was gone. He had slipped down the pipe where a 200-pound sewer cover was supposed to be.

“He was walking behind me on his leash when all of a sudden I felt the leash pulling me backwards,” Welter said. “I turned around and saw just Charlie’s head sticking out of this hole.

“At first I didn’t know what to do,” she said. “I couldn’t pull him up, so I gently let him sink to the bottom of the sewer. Then I realized I needed help to get him out, so I called 911.”

Police and firefighters from Oak Forest’s Engine Co. 4 arrived within minutes. Firefighter Michael Campnell entered the sewer and managed to get a harness around the dog, said Fire Chief Lindsay Laycoax.

“Once Mike got down into that hole, the dog was sure happy to see him,” said Laycoax, who was at the scene. “The dog just kept licking his face.

“Mike put a leash and a harness around him, the same kind of harness we use for people,” Laycoax said. “Once we had him secured, we were able to gently lift the dog out of the sewer.”

Laycoax said the girls, as well as their dogs, were lucky.

“It’s awfully dark along the forest preserve on Oak Park Avenue,” he said. “Because the girls were running from the coyotes, it could easily have been one of them who fell into the hole.”

Laycoax did not know why the sewer was uncovered. “It’s possible the cover … was accidentally lifted by a construction vehicle or one of the snowplows,” he said, adding that firefighters made sure the cover was replaced immediately after the dog’s rescue.

As for Welter, she was just glad Charlie was home safe and sound.

“The whole thing seemed so weird,” she said. “You read about cats getting stuck in trees, but a dog stuck in a sewer? I can’t say enough about the firefighters who came to Charlie’s rescue. They were just great.”

Firefighters responding to a call for help rescued a dog who fell in a sewer.

Britney Welter and her friend were both walking their dogs when the 4-year-old black Lab fell down an open sewer in the Cook County Forest Preserve in Oak Forest.

The girls told police they were running from coyotes when the dog dropped through the open manhole.

Welter said her dog was not injured in the fall.

The fire chief said he’s not sure why the sewer cap was left open, but they have resecured the lid.

“Thank God it wasn’t the owner, because the girls were running here … and, as she said, it could have been her as easily as it was the dog,” said Oak Forest fire chief Lindsay Laycoax.