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CATnewsN° 69 | Spring 2019
CATnews 69 Spring 2019
02
CATnews is the newsletter of the Cat Specialist Group, a component of the Species Survival Commission SSC of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is pu��It is pu��lished twice a year, and is availa�le to mem�ers and the Friends of the Cat Group.
For joining the Friends of the Cat Group please contact Christine Breitenmoser at [email protected]
Original contri�utions and short notes a�out wild cats are welcome Send contributions and observations to [email protected].
Guidelines for authors are availa�le at www.catsg.org/catnews
CATnews is produced with financial assistance from the Friends of the Cat Group.
Design: �ar�ara sur�er, werk’sdesign gm�hLayout: Ta�ea Lanz und Christine BreitenmoserPrint: Stämpfli Pu�likationen AG, Bern, Switzerland ISSN 1027-2992 © IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group
Editors: Christine & Urs Breitenmoser Co�chairs IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group KORA, Thunstrasse 31, 3074 Muri, Switzerland Tel ++41(31) 951 90 20 Fax ++41(31) 951 90 40 <urs.�[email protected]�e.ch> <ch.�[email protected]> Associate Editors: Keith Richmond Brian Bertram Maximilian Allen Juan Reppucci
Cover Photo: Fishing cat, Howrah District, West Bengal, India Photo Shantanu Prasad
The designation of the geographical entities in this pu�lication, and the representation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or �oundaries.
CATnews 69 Spring 2019
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short contribution
ZEENAL VAJRINKAR1, TAHIR ALI RATHER1,2*, JITENDRA S. RAMGAOKAR3 AND KEDAR GORE1
First photographic record of rusty-spotted cat from Thane Forest Division, IndiaThe rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus is the world’s smallest cat species and is endemic to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal. Being previously unreported, we present the first camera trap record of rusty-spotted cat from Thane Forest Division, Maharashtra, India. The species was captured in a camera trap survey aimed to prepare the biodi-versity profile of the Thane Forest Division from April to June 2018.
The rusty�spotted cat is the world’s smallest cat species weighing around 1.1–1.6 kg when fully adult (Prater 2005). It has a relatively re�stricted glo�al distri�ution and is endemic to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal (Mukherjee et al. 2016). The rusty�spotted cat is listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List of Threat�ened Species (Mukherjee et al 2016) and is legally protected under Schedule�I of the In�dian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Little is known of its ecology or local a�undance (No�well & Jackson 1996, Sunquist & Sunquist 2002, Mukherjee et al. 2016). The rusty�spot�ted cat is restricted to the unprotected forest area across most of its distri�utional range and thus is highly suscepti�le to the various anthropogenic threats (Palai & De�ata 2017). In India, rusty spotted�cat occurs intermittent�ly from Tamil Nadu in the south to the Jammu and Kashmir in the north, and from Gujarat in the west to Odisha in the east through
Madhya Pradesh in the central region (Patel &Jackson 2005, Mali & Srinivasulu 2015, Na�yak et al. 2017). The rusty�spotted cat is a ge�neralist in its choice of ha�itat and in India, occurs in moist and dry deciduous forests, tropical thorn forests, arid scru��lands, rocky areas and hilly areas (Mukherjee et al. 2016). Its main diet constitutes of rodents, small �irds and possi�ly small insects, lizards and frogs (Philips 1984, De Alwis 1973).
Results and DiscussionHere, we report a first photographic record of the rusty�spotted cat in Thita�i, in the reser�ved forests of Tokawade Range, Thane Forest Division, Maharashtra (Fig. 1). To our know�ledge, this is the first photographic record of the species from the Thane Forest Division. A total of 6 camera traps, at the spacing of 800–1,000 m from each other, were in�stalled from 28 May to 18 June 2018 across
an area of 16 km2. The rusty�spotted cat was recorded on 14 June 2018 at a site located at 19°20'40.0''N / 73°46'89.1'' E (Fig. 1, 2). No further captures of the species were recorded during the survey as its nocturnal and partial�ly ar�oreal �ehavior makes the species hard to detect (Jayaratne et al. 2015).Previously, the species has �een recorded in Am�oli, a part of the Western Ghats, Maha�rashtra (Lele & Chunekar 2013). The study area connects the forests of Harishchandragarh�Kalsu�ai Wildlife Sanctuary and some parts of the Western Ghats. Thus, the study area may also act as corridor for the wildlife in the area. The study area faces high anthropogenic pres�sures such as increasing agriculture, grazing and hunting. Due to its irregular distri�ution in India and its occurrence outside protected forest area, ha�itat loss and spread of culti�vation fields and deforestation are �elieved to �e major threats to the species (Nowell & Jackson 1996). Increasing network of roads is also one of the major threats to the species as reports of rusty�spotted cats killed in road ac�cidents have �een documented (Tehsin 1994, Digveerendrasinh 1995, Du�ey 1999). The possi�ility of hy�ridisation of rusty�spotted cat with a domestic cat has also �een suggested as a concern (Kittle & Watson 2004).Although we present only one confirmation of the presence of rusty�spotted cat, it still pro�vides crucial information on the occurrence of the species in the Thane Forest Division. However, it requires further study on its dis�tri�ution across its range in Maharashtra. This record further shows the occurrence of a Near Threatened species like rusty�spotted cat in fragmented landscapes which often do not fall under protected forest areas.
AcknowledgmentsWe are thankful to the Maharashtra Forest De�partment for permitting us to carry out this study. Our thanks are with The Cor�ett Foundation, for supporting and guiding us throughout thefield�work. We would also like to thank Dr. Asad R. Rahmani and Dr. A. J. T Johnsingh for their help with the identification of the rusty�spotted cat from the camera trap photos.
ReferencesDe Alwis W. I. F. 1973. Status of Southeast Asia’s
small cats. In The World’s Cats. Eaton,R. A. (Ed.). World Wildlife Safari, Portland, Oregon. pp. 198–208.
Du�ey Y. 1999. Sighting of rusty�spotted cat in Tado��a Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra. Journal of the Bom�ay Natural History Society 96, 310.
Fig. 1. Location of the study area within Maha-rashtra, camera trap loca-tions and the site where rusty-spotted cat was pictured.
CATnews 69 Spring 2019
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DIPENDRA ADHIKARI1, PRADEEP RAJ JOSHI2, LAXMAN PRASAD POUDYAL3, PRAKASH SIG-DEL2, SHASHANK POUDEL1, GYANENDRA BAHADUR SHAH4, JAMES G. SANDERSON5, SHAI-LENDRA CHAUDHARY4 AND SAGAR DAHAL1,5
Road-kill record of a rusty-spotted cat in Shuklaphanta National Park, NepalThe rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus is the smallest felid in the world and is found only in Sri Lanka, India and Nepal. The first record of rusty-spotted cat in Nepal dates back to 2016 from the protected areas of western Terai. Very little is known about this elusive cat all over its distribution range owing to very few targeted stu-dies. Here we present the opportunistic road kill record of a rusty-spotted cat near Arjuni Phanta in Shuklaphanta National Park, Nepal.
from the fur of rusty�spotted cats had al�ready �een recorded for sale in Kathmandu (Van Gruisen & Sinclair 1992) in the 1990s, �ut the claim of Lamichhane et al. (2016) could still �e true �ecause nothing is known a�out the origin of the fur. Rusty�spotted cats inha�it moist and dry deciduous forests, including montane ha�itat, in Sri Lanka. They are mostly re�corded in the southern part of India �ut occasionally also in the north as far as Kashmir including the Terai Arc landscape of Nepal and India (Mukherjee et al. 2016, Lamichhane et al. 2016). Deforestation and spread of cultivation are considered to �e the major threats to the cat in India and Sri Lank (Patel 2011). In addition, rusty�spotted cats have �een known to �e hunted for the fur trade, as livestock pests and occasion�ally for consumption (Van Gruisen & Sin�clair 1992). In Nepal, they are recorded only from protected areas and hence the threats are largely unknown (Lamichhane et al. 2016). Here we present the record of a road kill of a rusty�spotted cat near Arju�ni phanta (phanta = grassland) of Shukla�phanta National Park.
Digveerendrasinh 1995. Occurrence of the rus�ty spotted cat (Felis rubiginosa) in Madhya Pradesh. Journal of Bom�ay Natural History Society 92, 407–408.
Jayaratne C., Perera P. K. P & Dayawansa P. N. 2015. A Preliminary investigation of the �eha�viour of Rusty Spotted Cats in Captivity. Wild�lanka 3, 1–11.
Kittle A. M. & Watson A. C. 2004. Rusty�spotted cat in Sri Lanka: o�servations of an arid zone population. Cat News 40,17–19.
Lele Y. & Chunekar H. 2013. Sighting of a rusty�spotted cat in Am�oli village, India.
Mukherjee S., Duckworth J. W., Silva A., Ap�pel A. & Kittle A. 2016. Prionailurus rubi-ginosus. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T18149A50662471. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016�1.RLTS.T18149A50662471.en
Mali S. & Srinivasulu C. 2015. Records of Rusty�spotted Cat from Sri Lankamalleshwara Wild�life Sanctuary, Andhra Pradesh, India. Cat News 62, 20–21.
Nayak S. Shah S. & Borah J. 2017. First record of Rusty�spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) from Ram�garh�Vishdhari Wildlife Sanctuary in semi�
arid landscape of Rajasthan, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 9, 9761–9763.
Nowell K. & Jackson P. 1996. Wild Cats: Status Survey and Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. 382 pp.
Palei H. S. & De�ata S. 2017. On the Occurrence of Rusty�spotted Cat Prionailurus rubiginosus (I. Geoffroy Saint�Hilaire, 1831) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Odisha, Eastern India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society. pp. 1–4.
Prater H. S. 2005. The �ook of Indian animals. Ox�ford University Press, New Delhi. 384 pp.
Patel K. & Jackson P. 2005. Rusty�spotted Cat in India: New distri�ution data. Cat News 42, 27.
Phillips W. W. A. 1984. The mammals of Sri Lan�ka. 2nd Ed. Wildlife Nature Protection Society, Colom�o.
Sunquist M. & Sunquist F. 2002. Wild Cats of the World. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. 462 pp.
Tehsin R. 1994. Rusty�spotted Cat sighted near Udaipur. Journal of the Bom�ay Natural Histo�ry Society 91, 136.
1 The Corbett Foundation2 Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim
University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, 202002 *<[email protected]>3 Maharashtra, Forest Department
Fig. 2. Camera trap photo of the rusty-spotted cat captured in Thitabi, Tokawade Range, Thane Forest Division (Photo The Corbett Foundation).
The rusty�spotted cat is the smallest cat weighing 1.5 to 1.6 kg for males and 1.1 kg for females when adult (Philips 1935). At �irth they weigh nearly the same as a chicken’s egg. Despite of its small size the cat is known to �e an excellent hunter and feeds on rodents and �irds; the cats are frequently seen after heavy rain when they come to feed on frogs (Philips 1935). The cat is found in moist and dry deciduous
forest as well as in scru� and grassland. Rusty�spotted cats prefer dense vegetation (Nayak et al. 2017). Previously, the known distri�ution of the rusty�spotted cat was re�stricted to Sri Lanka and India, �ut recently Lamichhane et al. (2016) claimed the first records of the cat’s presence in Nepal from the protected areas of the western terai, Shuklaphanta National Park and Bardia National Park. However, a long coat made
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