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Cat Museum, Kuching
A Collection from all over the world about CAT in Cat City
...Museum for cat lover in the Cat City...

Opening Hours Tuesday - Sunday (Including Public Holidays)9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m.
Close on Monday.
Bukit Siol, Jalan Semariang, Petra Jaya,93050 Kuching, Sarawak,East Malaysia.
Tel : 082-446688 Ext. 805 .Fax : 082-44641.
http://www.sarawak.com.my

Welcome to Kuching Cat Museum in the Cat City of the world

The people in Kuching are crazy about cats. Huge, colorful cat statues dominate the town. The fishing cats dominate the centre square, the beckoning cat stands at the crossroads and the smiling cat stands guard at roundabouts.

Part of the local fascination stems from the fact that kuching means cat in Malay. Lively discussions centre on whether this refers to the wild cats that dominated the area in times past, or the proliferation of a local fruit tree whose lychee-like fruit is nicknamed mata kuching or cat’s eyes.
Experience and discover for yourself the fascinating world of cats at one of the world's unique cat museum. Explore the galleries and you will definitely be amazed at the variety of species and other assortment of artifacts from other parts of the world on display.
The World's first Cat Museum, devoted to all things feline, is in Petra Jaya in the Kuching City North City Hall. Cat lovers will find a range of exhibits, photos, feline art and cat souvenirs. Tel: 446688. Open daily 9 am to 5 pm (closed public holidays). Admission free, camera fee RM 3, video fee RM 5. Petra Jaya Transport bus No 2C or 2D. 
The Cat Museum is under the management of Kuching North City Hall. The collection for the Museum began since it was with the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur in 1987 and was later brought to Kuching City (The Cat City) under the care of Sarawak Museum and displayed for the first time on 7 August 1988 at Dewan Tun Abdul Razak. The works continued until it was officially handed over to Kuching North City Hall at the "Cat Museum" in 1993.

The Cat Museum as a "Cat Information Centre". Moreover, with a collection in various fields about cats will make the Cat Museum as a centre of meeting place for all researchers and cat lovers from all over the world. They will also be able to do research on cats, based on historical, social and legendary aspects related to human traditions and beliefs. The Cat Museum, can be as a meeting place as well as seminar and international conference venue for cat lovers' clubs from all over the world.

LOCATION
The Cat Museum is located on the top of a hill called "Bukit Siol" which stands 60 meters above the sea level with beautiful sceneries of the city of Kuching.
The actual floor area of the Cat Museum is 1,035.9 sq. meters. There are of four main galleries having more than 2,000 cat artifacts and memorabilia from all over the world.

OPENING HOURS
Tuesday - Sunday (Including Public Holidays) 9.00 a.m. - 5.00 p.m. Close on Monday

CONTACT
CAT MUSEUM UNIT
CORPORATE AND PUBLIC RELATION DIVISION
KUCHING NORTH CITY HALL
Bukit Siol, Jalan Semariang, Petra Jaya, 93050 Kuching, Sarawak, East Malaysia.
Tel : 082-446688 Ext. 805 Fax : 082-44641

Cat Museum
Bukit Siol, Jalan Semariang, Petra Jaya, Kuching, Sarawak

This World’s first Cat Museum contains more than 2,000 cat artifacts and memorabilia from all over the world.
The Cat Museum is open daily (except Monday) from 9am to 5pm.
There are no entrance fees to the Cat Museum, but to take photographs or video shooting, there is a minimum payment required. Any sort of photography tool such as a digital camera are at RM4, camera phones are at RM3 and Videography at RM5.

The gallery was officially opened for display on 1 August 1988, when Kuching was proclaimed as a Cat City.
Before that, the cat artifacts were displayed in one of the galleries at the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur.
This was then transferred to the Dewan Tun Abdul Razak Hall in Kuching in 1988 and in 1993 it was officially moved to this permanent location at the Cat Museum.
The Cat Museum is under the management of Kuching North City Hall and is located on top of a hill “Bukit Siol” which stands 60 meters above with beautiful view of Kuching City.

Getting to the Cat Museum is pretty easy. It’s only about 10 minutes drive away from the Kuching Town with proper signs to this area.

There are plenty parking space on top of the hill which is surrounded with a beautiful park. Parking outside the DBKU building is free of charge.
Parking inside the building require a charge.

The Cat Museum itself holds many interesting history about cats. There are even real stuffed cats here and famous cats such as Garfield, Felix, Hello Kitty.

The Cat Museum's cat artifacts in Kuching City were previously displayed at the National Museum in Kuala Lumpur, in 1987 as one of its gallery.
Later the whole display was transferred to Kuching, The Cat City, under the care of Sarawak Museum.
The gallery was officially opened for display on 1 August 1988, when Kuching was proclaimed as a Cat City.
By now the collection of the exhibited materials from all over the world is one way of making the Cat Museum as a "Cat Information Centre"

WILD CATS AND NATURE

Sarawak, an East Malaysia state, lies on the northwest coast of Borneo. Borneo is the third largest island in the world. It is the home of tropical rain forest which is millions of years old and is endowed with unsurpassed biological diversity. In Sarawak and Borneo, there are five species of wild cats. All the wild cats are carnivorous which feed on small mammals, bird and insects. They prefer to live in the dense dipterocarp forest and being nocturnal, hunt at night. Borneo do not have any big cats such as panther or tiger. This gallery introduces the visitors to the wild cats of Borneo with special reference to Sarawak,

In January 2008 the death of an Indonesian in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, Borneo due to a bite from a rabid animal evoked a rabies vaccination to hundreds of wild cats in the city of Balikpapan on 7 January 2008.

Andrew Hearn and Joanna Ross run the Bornean Wild Cat and Clouded Leopard Project. A collaboration between the Oxford based Global Canopy Programme, the WildCRU, University of Oxford, and the University Malaysia Sabah. The project aims to understand and protect Borneo's threatened wild cats, which include the flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps), marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) the endemic bay cat (Catopuma badia) and the Bornean clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi).

http://news.mongabay.com

WILD CAT CONSERVATION

All wild cats in Sarawak are protected by the Wildlife Protection Ordinance (1990). No one is allowed to hunt or kill or keep Wild Cats as pets without a valid license from the Forest Department as they become endangered and rare.
Kuching Cat Museum specimens gallery provided information on the different types of Wild Cats in Borneo. Some of these cats could be seen in Malaysia's National Parks. You could help to conserve the beautiful cats by informing your sightings of Wild Cats to the nearest Wildlife Officer or the Museum. Wild Cats are part of our environment and heritage that we should help to preserve them.
 

CAT BIOLOGY

Female cats breed twice a year. Scratching by female cats indicates the beginning of a breeding season. Gestation last for about two to three months and number of kittens or cubs depending on the species. Kittens and cubs are blind at birth and are dependent on their mother. The mother cat feeds their young, keeps them clean and protects them from the male who would normally devour them.
 

WILD CATS ECOLOGY

Wild cats have developed powerful claws and are able to attain great speed in capturing their prey. These cats roam the rain forest, the larger species are usually solitary hunters. The cats are arboreal, but sometimes travel on the ground and become sociable during the mating season. The diet of the Clouded Leopard consist of wild deer. monkeys and small mammals.

The Leopard Cat feeds on rats and insect. Some of the wild cats have moved from the primary forest into secondary forest in search of food near to human settlements.

BAY CAT

Scientific Name : Felis Badia
Malay Name : Kucing Merah
Status : Totally Protected

This cat is the rarest of all cats in the world. It is found only in the rainforest of Borneo. Record shows that this species had been sighted in Baram. Sarawak and Danum Valley in Sabah. It differs from all other cats by the apparent absence of stripes or spots. The cats has two colour phases of golden brown and chestnut colours .with patches on the underside of the tail to its tip.
The specimen in Kuching Cat Muzium was mounted without internal bone and therefore does not look perfect. Its bone anatomy is displayed by its side. This is the only mounted specimen in the world today.
Reference : Endangered Bay Cat recorded to be seen in Upper Baram

 www.theborneopost.com/2012/
 

The Bay Cat had only previously been recorded to be seen in the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, Pulong Tau National Park, and in 2013 in the Anap Muput Forest Management Unit.

The Bay Cat is classified as ‘Endangered’ on the IUCN (World Conservation Union) Red List of Threatened Species and is totally protected in the state under the Wild Life Protection Ordinance 1998.

The Sela’an Linau FMU covers an area of approximately 56,000 ha and lies in the interior of northern Sarawak, north of the upper Baram River.

Due to its close proximity to Pulong Tau National Park and its location within the central spine of the greater “Heart of Borneo (HoB)” initiative, the FMU is important for many of Borneo’s highland species as it provides suitable habitats for dispersal, thereby ensuring genetic exchange between subdivided populations.


This mountain range is set aside as ‘Protected Zone’ by the logging concessionaire, Samling, for conservation purposes; however, it is not gazetted under the state government and thus has no legal protection.

The Bornean Bay Cat Pardofelis badia, one of the rarest and most elusive cats in the world, has been recorded to be seen in the Sela’an Linau Forest Management Unit (FMU), a logging concession in Upper Baram.

“the records of the Bay Cat highlight the Sela’an Linau FMU, particularly the Murud Kecil mountain range, as an important area for wildlife.”

Professor Dr Andrew Alek Tuen,
The director of IBEC,
 

The FMU is one of the few places in Borneo which has 4 of the 5 wild cat species known in Borneo.

It also has the highest number of encounters of the rare Bornean endemic, the Hose’s Civet Diplogale hosei, one of the world’s least known carnivores.

The Hoscap Borneo team has also recorded footages of six different species of hornbills there and at least three species listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: the Bay Cat, Bornean Gibbon (both endemic to Borneo) and the Pangolin.

Other rare Bornean endemics recorded to be seen in the area include the Tufted Ground Squirrel and the Bulwer’s Pheasant. The Hoscap Borneo team has released a video clip on YouTube of such footage from the wild, including rare footage of the Hose’s Civet.

Professor Dr Andrew added “This is an excellent opportunity for all stakeholders to work together and show that we truly care about our environment and are able to manage Sarawak’s forests sustainably for the conservation of its biodiversity.”


The Hose’s Civet and Small Carnivore Project, Borneo (Hoscap Borneo) is funded by The Care-For-Nature Trust Fund (administered by HSBC Trustee (Singapore) Limited) and Ocean Park Conservation Foundation, Hong Kong while logistical support is provided by Yaw Teck Seng Foundation.

DOMESTIC CAT

Scientific Name : Fefis Catus
Malay Name : Kucing Rumah

Domestic cat like this Sarawak Cat is always associated with man. This Sarawak Cat is distinguished from its other cousins by its short tail which is sometimes bent. Its body color is variable with white, grey, black or orange.

CLOUDED LEOPARD CAT

Scientific Name : Neofelis Nebulosa
Malay Name : Harimau Dahan
Status : Totally Protected

This is the largest of all Bornean cats. Its body has a set of stripes on an orange gold background like a tiger. This cat is rare. It is arboreal and more around in the trees, often hunts monkeys for its food. It is found in the rainforest.

LEOPARD CAT

Scientific name : Felis Bengalensis
Malay name : Kucing Batu
Status : Protected

This cat is fairly common around secondary forest in all parts of Sarawak. It has a pattern of black spots on a tawny yellow coat. Its tail is short. The cat is usually nocturnal and feeds on small mammals and birds including domestic chickens.

FLAT-HEADED CAT

Scientific Name : Felis Pleniceps
Malay Name : Kucing Hutan
Status : Totally Protected

This cat is found in Peninsular Thailand, Malaysia and Sumatera. In Borneo island, it was recorded being sighted in Sandakan areas in Sabah, Tasik Merimbun in Brunei, several areas in Sarawak, South Kalimantan and West Kalimantan. It appears brownish in color at a distance, but the hair of the upper parts is brown with fine grey and pale buff speckling. The chin and chest are white in color, the ear are small and the top of the head is long and flattened. This cat is nocturnal, terrestrial and probably feeds mainly on fish. It is also known to inhabit tall and secondary forest.

HOW KUCHING CITY GOT ITS NAME

The Sarawak river and the whole state including Kuching town were formerly known as Sarawak. no body knew how this capital town to be called Kuching.

Kuching is a Malay word which means CAT and it is possible that in those days, cats were abundant along the Sarawak river bank, thus it was named 'Kuching'. In 1839, James Booke (the first white Rajah of Sarawak) referred to the town as Kuching which might suggest to an old word Cochin or port, as in India or Indochina.

The town in 1870s had a river running through it known as Sungai Kuching for it passed through a hill with a large growth of fruit trees locally known as 'MAT A KUCING '(Nephelium Malaienes). Thus, it's settled that in 1876 the town |; became officially known as Kuching.

MARBLE CAT

Scientific Name : Felis Marmorata
Malay Name : Kucing Dahan
Status : Totally Protected


This Cat is very similar in pattern to the Clouded Leopard Cat. It has soft thick fur and umerous black spots on his legs. This cat is a nocturnal animal, arboreal and feeds mainly on rats. It can be found in secondary forest.

MALAY CIVET

Scientific Name : Viverra Tangalunga
Malay Name : Musang Tenggalong
Status : Protected

All civets or Musang, Bear Cats or Binturong are not really cats because they belong to a different family of animal called Viverridae. The general colour is grey marked with black and a black stripe along its spine to tail, with black spots on the sides of its body.

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