ISSN 1027-2992 CAT news N° 60 | SPRING 2014 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 published twice a year, and is available to members and the Friends of the Cat Group. For joining the Friends of the Cat Group please contact Christine Breitenmoser at ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch Original contributions and short notes about wild cats are welcome Send contributions and observations to ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch. Guidelines for authors are available at www.catsg.org/catnews 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 <u.breitenmoser@vetsuise.unibe.ch> <ch.breitenmoser@kora.ch> Associate Editors: Keith Richmond Brian Bertram Sultana Bashir Javier Pereira CATnews is produced with financial assistance from the Friends of the Cat Group. Design: barbara surber, werk’sdesign gmbh Layout: Christine Breitenmoser Print: Stämpfli Publikationen AG, Bern, Switzerland Cover Photo: Lion pride in Hwange, Zimbabwe Photo Paul Funston ISSN 1027-2992 © IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group The designation of the geographical entities in this publication, 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 boundaries. CATnews 60 Spring 2014 short communication ADITI MUKHERJEE1 AND PANKAJ KOPARDE1* Sighting of rusty-spotted cat in Anaikatty Reserve Forest, Tamil Nadu, India A solitary rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus was sighted on 16 September 2013 in the campus of Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Tamil Nadu, India. Although widespread across India and Sri Lanka, the locality specific data on the species is scarce. Our observation adds to the previous knowledge of the species range and ecology. 32 Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History (SACON) is located in southern dry mixed deciduous habitat (Champion & Seth 1968) of Anaikatty forest amidst the foot hills of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, Tamil Nadu, India. The forest is located on the backdrop of the southern Western Ghats, one of the biodiversity ‘hot spots’ (Myers et al. 2000). The sighting occurred on 16 September 2013 at 21:04 h (11°05’33.15’’N/76°47’04.73’’E, 643 m, Supporting Online Material Figure SOM F1) merely 5 feet away from the strolling path used by the students of the institute. Even when many of them returned with a camera and flashlight, it remained in its position and did not seem too perturbed. It can be speculated that the animal might have come to drink water from one of the artificial water tanks built by the institute for wild animals, or to forage since this was next to the canteen that has a good rodent population. The area is a mosaic of man-made structures and sparse rural area amidst dry deciduous forest. The animal (Fig. 1) was crouching on a dried branch of a Neem tree Azadirachta indica – approximately 15 m above ground, and was certainly Fig. 1. Rusty-spotted cat crouched on a Neem tree Azadirachta indica. smaller and different from a jungle cat Felis chaus (Schreber, 1777) also expected to be found on campus. The animal had a fawn-grey coat with a rufous tinge, covered with lines of small rusty-brown spots that form solid stripes along the back of the head with white underbelly marked with large spots and bars, and with two dark streaks on each cheek. These characteristics help its identification as a rusty-spotted cat (Menon 2003). Rusty-spotted cat, listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Khan & Mukherjee 2008), are known to inhabit open forested areas (Nowell & Jackson 1996) and have been reported from human-dominated landscapes such as agricultural and urban areas (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Mukherjee 1998, Nekaris 2003, Menon 2003). The Indian population is listed in Appendix I of CITES and the Sri Lankan population is listed in Appendix II. The species is known to feed on small rodents, birds and herpetofauna. Although the species is widely distributed across India and Sri Lanka, there is scanty information available on the locality specific distribution. The species is known to be the world’s smallest cat found only in India and Sri Lanka (Pocock 1939). The locality specific records for the species from Tamil Nadu state are from Varushand valley (Pillay 2008, Srinivas et al. 2013), Madumalai Tiger Reserve (Kalle et al. 2010), and Vannathiparai of Gudalur Range and Rajapalayam town in Tamil Nadu (Srinivas et al. 2013). The present sighting represents a new location for this felid in a human-modified habitat (Fig. 1). Habitat loss, spread of cultivation, poaching, and killing for meat are some of the immediate threats the species is facing (Khan & Mukherjee 2008). It has been known that the species is tolerant to human mediated disturbance (Menon 2003). Our observation adds to the previous knowledge of the species ecology and spatial distribution. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Dr. Shomita Mukherjee for identification confirmation of the species and providing inputs for the manuscript. We would also like to thank Dr. S. Bhupathy for encouragement. References Champion H. G. & Seth S. K. 1968. A Revised Survey of the Forest Types of India. Manager publications, Government of India, New Delhi, India. 404 pp. Kalle R., Ramesh T., Qureshi Q. & Sankar K. 2010. Habitat occupancy of small felids, viverrids and herpestids in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, India. Preliminary report submitted to Wildlife Institute of India; 22 pp. Khan J. A. & Mukherjee S. 2008. Prionailurus rubiginosus. In IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2013.1. <www. iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 04 October 2013. Menon V. 2003. A field guide to Indian mammals. Dorling Kindersley/Penguin, India. 200 pp. Mukherjee S. 1998. Cats: Some large, many small. ENVIS Newsletter 1, 5-13. Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. Myers N., Mittermeier R. A., Mittermeier C. G., da Fonseca G. A. B. & Kent J. 2000. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities. Nature 403, 853-858. Nekaris K. A. I. 2003. Distribution and behaviour of three small wild cats in Sri Lanka. Cat News 38, 30-32. Nowell K. & Jackson P. (Eds). 1996. The Wild Cats: A Status Survey & Conservation Action Plan. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. 421 pp. Pillay R. 2008. Sighting of a Rusty-spotted Cat in the Varushand valley, India. Cat News 49, 2627. Pocock R. I. 1939. The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Mammalia. –Volume 1. Tailor and Francis Ltd., London. pp 276-280. Srinivas G., Babu S., Kumara H. N and Molur S. 2013. Assessing the status and distribution of large mammals in Highwavy and its environs, Southern Western Ghats, Technical Report submitted to CEPF-ATREE Small Grants and Rufford Small Grants. Coimbatore, India. pp 12-13. Supporting Online Material Figure F1 is available at www.catsg.org/catnews 1 Conservation biology division, Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology & Natural History, Anaikatty, Coimbatore-641108, Tamil Nadu, India *<pankajkoparde@gmail.com> CATnews 60 Spring 2014