First time rusty-spotted cat seen in Kutch, Gujarat

A rusty-spotted cat, the world's smallest species of wild cat, which is considered "vulnerable to extinction", has been seen in Kutch for the first time.

Vaibhav Mishra, a naturalist, said he spotted one sitting under a bush atop a rock in the Bird Rock area of the Chhari Dandh Wetland Reserve in Kutch, a Ramsar site candidate.

"I was looking for jungle cats when I saw it. I saw the white belly and the long tail and said, "I've never seen this before. I took out my camera and clicked a few pictures. Luckily one came out very nicely," said Mishra over phone from Bharatpur in Rajasthan, where he lives.

"I went home and checked the Internet and found it seemed to be a rusty spotted cat. I shared the picture with Jugal Tiwari (a well-known wild-lifer from the district) and he sent it to small-cat expert Shomita Mukherjee. She has confirmed it was the rare rusty spotted cat," he said.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in its red list of endangered species tags the species as "vulnerable to extinction" and that it was for long thought to exist only in Sri Lanka and southern India.

IFS officer and current director of the state-run GEER Foundation, Dr Bharat Pathak, spotted one in the Gir Forest in 1990. The cat is also believed to exist in the Shoolpaneshwar Sanctuary in Narmada district and in Jambhugodha sanctuary, about 70 kms from Vadodara.

P A Vihol, Deputy Conservator of Forests (Kutch West), confirmed that "this is the first time a rusty spotted cat has been spotted in Kutch".
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More about Rusty - Spotted Cat:

The Rusty-Spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) wins the title for the world’s smallest wild cat weighing a mere 1.8-3.5 lbs (0.8-1.6 kg) and is 14 to 19 inches (35 to 48 cm) in length (not counting the tail which is half the size of the body). This feline has short grey fur over most of its body with rusty spots over its back and flanks from where it derives its name. Their underbellies are white with large dark spots and they have six dark streaks on each side of their heads, extending over their cheeks and forehead.

The Rusty-Spotted Cat, known as the “hummingbird of the cat family”, is only found in India and Sri Lanka. There are 10,000 Rusty-Spotted Cats in the wild and the species is listed as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Like other wild cats, the Rusty-Spotted Cat is on the decline mostly due to habitat loss and hunting pressures (for their coat and even for food in some parts of their range). There are reports of their domestication due to their size and affectionate nature. In fact, Rusty-Spotted Cats are quite active and playful.

The Rusty-Spotted Cat prefers dense vegetation and rocky areas and inhabits deciduous forests as well as scrub and grasslands. An arboreal and nocturnal feline, the Rusty-Spotted Cat, unsurprisingly, preys on small animals such as frogs, rodents, insects, small birds and reptiles. They have also has been known to prey on domestic poultry sometimes leading to human-wildlife conflicts.

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Posted in: India, Wild Life, World