ISSN 1027-2992
CATnewsN° 70 | Autumn 2019 02
CATnews is the newsletter of the Cat Specialist Group, Editors: Christine & Urs Breitenmoser a component of the Species Survival Commission SSC of the Co-chairs IUCN/SSC International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It�������� is pub��� Cat Specialist Group lished twice a year, and is available to members and the Friends of KORA, Thunstrasse 31, 3074 Muri, the Cat Group. Switzerland Tel ++41(31) 951 90 20 For joining the Friends of the Cat Group please contact Fax ++41(31) 951 90 40 Christine Breitenmoser at [email protected]
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CATnews 70 Autumn 2019 original contribution
hya Pradesh, Forest Department for providing ne� Ramesh K., Johnson A. J., Sen S., Murthy R. S. et al. cessary permissions to carry out the study. 2013. Status of tiger and prey species in Panna Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India. Technical References Report, Wildlife Institute of India, Panna Tiger Kitchener A. C., Breitenmoser-Wursten Ch., Eizirik Reserve and National Tiger Conservation Autho� E., Gentry A. et al. 2017. A revised taxonomy of rity. 39 pp. the Felidae. The final report of the Cat Classifica� Rather T. A., Sharad Kumar., Shaizah Tajdar., Raman tion Task Force of the IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist K. S. & Jamal A. K. 2017. First photographic re� Group. Cat News Special Issue 11, 80 pp. cord of Asiatic wildcat in Bandhavgarh TR, India. Menon V. 2014. Indian Mammals: A Field Guide. Ha� Cat News 65, 35. Fig. 2. Camera trap image of the Asiatic chette Book Publishing India Pvt. Ltd, Gurgaon, Yamaguchi N., Kitchener A., Driscoll C. & Nuss� wildcat in the study area, 3 March 2018 India. 248 pp. berger B. 2015. Felis silvestris. The IUCN Red (Photo The Corbett Foundation). Mukherjee S. 1998. Cats some large, many small. In List of Threatened Species 2015: e.T603547 ENVIS (Wildlife and Protected Areas), Mukherjee 12A50652361. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/ and behavioural studies on co-occurring popu� S. (Ed.). Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, In� IUCN.UK.2015-2.RLTS.T60354712A50652361. lations of domestic cats and wildcats. dia, pp. 5–13. en Pande A., Vasava A., Solanki R., Bipin C. M. & Jhala Acknowledgements Y. V. 2013. Photographic recrods of the Asiatic 1 The Corbett Foundation We are thankful to the Jet Privilege Pvt. Ltd. (JPPL) Wildcat from two states of India. Journal of 2 Department of Wildlife Sciences, Aligarh Muslim for funding the study. Our due thanks to the Mad� Threatened Taxa 5, 5283–5287. University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, 202002
YADAV GHIMIREY1*, JYOTENDRA JYU THAKURI2, RAJU ACHARYA1, BIDHAN ADHIKARY1, RIN- trade market survey in Kathmandu. The mar� ZIN PHUNJOK LAMA3, TASHI RAPTE GHALE3, MADHU NEPAL4, CHUNGBA SHERPA5 AND KA- ket survey reported a total of 30 long coats and RAN BAHADUR SHAH6 44 short jackets made from different cat pelts, 22 including Asiatic wild cat, but no mention was Possible records of the Asiatic made about the origin of the products. There is a possibility that the tanned pelts made their wildcat in Nepal way to Nepal via India where the species is known to occur (Prater 1971), but there is also An individual of cat species having phenotypic appearance of an Asiatic wildcat a faint possibility that some raw pelts might Felis lybica ornata was photographed in Tanahun district during a bird survey on 3 be from Nepal, which unfortunately cannot March 2019 at 14:30 h. The typical features of the Asiatic wildcat were clearly visi- be confirmed now. Further investigation could ble, i.e. a spotted coat, horizontal bands on upper part of the leg, medium tail with have provided more information on the origin rings towards the tip and relatively large head. The nearest known population of of those pelts and perhaps provided a clearer this felid was reported from Madhya Pradesh in central India, nearly 500 km away. picture of the species' existence in Nepal. Other records of the suspected species, including photographs, were also obtained There were no follow-up studies to record the in 2013 and 2015 near Kathmandu and in the north-western part of the country, close presence of Asiatic wildcat pelts in the illegal to the Ngari region of Western Tibet. Our records provide important evidence for the wildlife market in Kathmandu. Also there have possible occurrence of the Asiatic wildcat in Nepal, and form the basis for a more been no reports of the species from anywhere detailed survey to assess its national status and distribution. inside the country from that time. Here we present photographic and observation records The Asiatic wildcat was previously thought to ty of discovering medium-sized mammals in of possible Asiatic wildcats from five different be a subspecies of Felis silvestris. However areas that have been less frequently visited localities in Nepal. a recent taxonomic study has revealed that by biologists. wildcats in Africa and Asia are now recog- Nepal has no historical records of Asiatic Possible Asiatic wildcat records in Nepal nised as Felis lybica (Kitchener et al. 2017), wildcat. However there have been some long With no confirmed records of the species in with Asiatic wildcats classified as a subspe� unconfirmed reports of the species existing in the country many sightings of the species cies, Felis lybica ornata. Twelve species of cat the country. Also, pelts of this species were may have been ignored previously. However, occur in Nepal based on current knowledge. commonly seen in the illegal market of wild� a recent photograph of a living cat can be Two species, i.e. Pallas' cat Otocolobus ma- life furs in Kathmandu during the 1980s and identified morphologically as an Asiatic wild nul and rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubigi- 1990s. A fur market survey in 1988 revealed cat, therefore we present here together with nosus are the latest additions to the list of fe� the presence of the Asiatic wildcat without this observation additionally some records lid species occurring in the country (Shrestha providing any details on the number of items of similar looking specimens till date. Fig. 1 et al. 2014, Lamichhane et al. 2016). These (Barnes 1989). WWF India (1992) also reported provides all known sighting locations of these records suggest that there is still a possibili� availability of the species' pelt during a fur observations in Nepal.
CATnews 70 Autumn 2019 possible records of the Asiatic wildcat in Nepal
Record 1 The most recent observation of a cat species having phenotypic appearance of an Asia� tic wildcat was made on 3 March 2019 at Kaphaldanda, Tanahun District (Supporting Online Material Figure SOM F1). Kaphaldan� da is located on a dirt road two hours’ drive away from the Prithvi Highway on the way to Chimkeshwori Temple. The precise location is at 27°51’40.59° N / 84°30’58.9788’’ E at an altitude of 1,281 m. It is around 80 km straight- line distance from Kathmandu and 40 km from Chitwan National Park in the south. The cat was first seen at around 14:30 h while Jyotendra Jyu Thakuri JT was quietly waiting for a Nepalese endemic bird species, the spiny babbler Turdoides nipalensis to emerge from bushes nearby. The cat was 50 m east from JT, walking along the dirt road. JT started to track it slowly and it went below the road and Fig. 1. Location of the five sightings of Asiatic wildcat looking individuals in Nepal bet- inside a nearby bush. JT approached the bush, ween 2013–2019. but the cat was not seen there. After a cou� ple of minutes, the same cat again appeared unable to conclude whether that was even middle of the bustling Kathmandu metropo� approximately 50 m further along the same morphologically close to an Asiatic wildcat lis, this isolated patch of forest is only 2 km road walking in the same direction. JT took during that time. away from Nagarjuna forest, a 14 km2 patch some pictures of the cat while it was on the of forest which is a part of Shivapuri-Nagar� view. However, it was more alert than before Record 3 juna National Park (SOM F2). The Ranibari and started walking faster and vanished after A camera trapping survey of wildlife in Humla community forest is separated from Nagrjuna 23 the nearby bend. The nearest settlement was district in 2013 conducted by a team consist- forest by dense settlements, farmlands and an abandoned cattle shed about 100 m west ing Raju Acharya, Yadav Ghimirey and Bidhan road networks. from the location of first sighting. Two small Adhikary recorded a small cat species with houses were located at a distance of around an external morphology similar to that of a Discussion 250 m. The habitat associated with the site Eurasian wildcat Felis silvestris as well as The phenotypic range of Asiatic wildcat and/ was dense bushes and scattered forest with African wildcat Felis lybica. The cat (Fig. 4B) or domestic cat is large and is compounded a southern aspect. was photographed near Halji village located by the fact that the knowledge on the topic is The photographs (Photo 1; Fig. 2) were sent at 30°14’6.7596’’ N / 81°30’12.3588’’ E and very limited. This makes it difficult for species to several experts for identification and all of at elevation of 3,950 m. level identification of Asiatic wild cat based them stated that the external morphology of just on the phenotypic appearance. Out of the cat is similar to that of an Asiatic wildcat. Record 4 all our sightings, record 1 is phenotypically However, they also suggested that due to li� Two years later Tashi Ghale photographed closest to an Asiatic wild cat however the mited knowledge on the external morphology the same cat species near same Halji village, location it has been recorded i.e. Kaphalda� of free-ranging domestic cats in the region, Limi valley (Fig. 4C). The species does bear da in Tanahun district is nearly 500 km away it is important to perform additional analyses similarity to an Asiatic wild cat, however it from the nearest known range of the species (genetic, morphometric etc) on cats found also seemed friendly unlike an Asiatic wild in Madhya Pradhesh, India, which makes the dead or a sample of fur or other biological cat. It was suggested that without any gene� observation even more interesting and im� tissue prior to confirming the existence of the tic evidence there will be no scientific proof portant. Also the location in Humla district species in Nepal. whether the cat in the photo is actually an (Record 3) is also out of the currently known Asiatic wild cat or not (J. Sanderson, pers range of the species. The colour of the fur Record 2 comm.). is much paler, indicating it should be from Prior to this record, a wild cat was also pho� drier areas as mentioned by Yamaguchi et tographed in 2013 near Namo Buddha in Kav- Record 5 al. (2015). The area from where the photo repalanchowk district. The site is a Buddhist A cat similar to the Asiatic wildcat was re� was captured lies in the north-western cor� pilgrimage site located 36 km east of Kath� cently photographed by Chungba Sherpa at ner of the country in the rain shadow area of mandu. The photograph (Fig. 4A), taken by Ranibari community forest, in the heart of the Trans-Himalayas and is an extension of Madhu Nepal, presents a faint photo of a cat Kathmandu city (Fig. 4D) in March 2019. The western Tibetan plateau in Nepal. The area is bearing spots and stripes on either side of the photograph location is a 0.074 km² commu� dry, receiving very little precipitation. In this head. Its tail and ear tufts were not visible. nity forest, which lies in the middle of Kath- case, the possibility that the individual being With no previous records in Nepal, we were mandu city. Although the forest is in the closer to the steppe population of wildcat is
CATnews 70 Autumn 2019 Ghiimirey et al.
Fig. 2. The cat observed in Tanahu district has morphological features typical of an Asiatic wildcat (Photo Jyotendra J. Thakuri).
A B
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C D Fig. 3. (A) A possible Asiatic wildcat photographed at Namobuddha, near Kathmandu (Photo M. Nepal), (B) A camera trapped cat near Halji village, Humla district (Photo Friends of Nature); (C) Probably the same cat photographed in 2015 (Photo T. R. Ghale) and (D) possi- ble Asiatic wildcat photographed at Ranibari forest in Kathmandu in 2019 (Photo C. Sherpa). These images provide interesting evidence of the phenotypic range.
high. The closest population of the steppe Nepal. Similar works have been done in va� Shrestha and Sarbendra Pachchhai for providing wildcat is around 700 km far from the record- rious countries of Europe (U. Breitenmoser in additional information on the cat photographed at ed Humla district location across the Kunlun litt. March 2019). This would possibly create Ranibari Community Forest. Mountains in China (Yamaguchi et al. 2015). a phenotypic checklist for Asiatic wild cat While the phenotypic evidences are impor� which could play the role of a reference for References tant as preliminary evidence it is imperative future sightings of the Asiatic wild cat or mor� Barnes L. J. 1989. The Overt Illegal Fur Trade in that this is backed up by a hard evidence i.e. phologically similar looking cats. Kathmandu, Nepal. Unpublished report. Inter� either genetic or craniometrics (Yamaguchi et national Snow Leopard Trust. USA. al. 2015). Acknowledgements Kitchener A. C., Breitenmoser-Würsten C., Eizirik Following these sightings there is a strong The authors would like to acknowledge Jim San� E., Gentry A. et al. 2017. A revised taxonomy of need to carry out wildlife surveys in previous� derson, Alex Sliwa, Andrew Kitchener, Nobuyuki the Felidae. The final report of the Cat Classifi� ly unfrequented areas. Furthermore specific Yamaguchi and Urs Breitenmoser for looking at the cation Task Force of the IUCN/SSC Cat Specia- studies on differentiation and hybridization photos and providing their opinion, and Urs Brei� list Group. Cat News Special Issue 11, 80 pp. of Asiatic wild cats and domestic cats is ur� tenmoser for providing information on recent stu� Lamichhane B. R., Kadariya R., Subedi N., Dhakal gent in order to ensure the truth regarding the dies on wild cats in Switzerland and other coun� B. K., Dhakal M., Thapa K. & Acharya K. P. occurrence of Asiatic wild cat conundrum in tries of Europe. We would also like to thank Gopi 2016. Rusty-spotted cat: 12th cat species dis�
CATnews 70 Autumn 2019 original contribution
covered in Western Terai of Nepal. Cat News Yamaguchi N., Kitchener A., Driscoll C. & 1 Friends of Nature, PO Box 23491, Sundhara, 64, 30–33. Nussberger B. 2015. Felis silvestris. The Kathmandu, Nepal Prater S. H. 1971. The Book of Indian Animals. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species *
JIGME TENZIN1*, TASHI DHENDUP2, PHUB DHENDUP1, TSHERING DORJI1, KARMA CHOKI1, (2015) in Jigme Dorji National Park JDNP. In SINGAY WANGCHUK1, SANGAY DORJI1, CHENCHO NIDUP1 AND TSHERING DORJI3 2014, snow leopard surveys were carried out in JDNP and in 2016 in Wangchuck Centenni� Six felid species occur out- al National Park (Thinley et al. 2016, WCNP & WWF 2016). Protected areas consistently side protected areas in south- carry out tiger and snow leopard surveys mak- ing these two species the most extensively central Bhutan studied wild felids among others in Bhutan. The medium and small-sized felids remain un� We report the presence of six wildcat species in Sarpang Territorial Forest Division derstudied, and their reports are mainly from in south-central Bhutan from a camera trap survey conducted in 2014. The species re- by-catch images (Thinley et al. 2015, Dhendup ported are tiger Panthera tigris, common leopard Panthera pardus, clouded leopard et al. 2016, Dhendup 2016a, 2016b). Also, the Neofelis nebulosa, Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii, marbled cat Pardofelis available data on wildlife from non-protected marmorata, and leopard cat Priornailurus bengalensis. The finding reiterates that areas come mainly from the nationwide sur� 25 landscapes outside protected areas in Bhutan are very crucial for the long-term con- veys for tiger and snow leopard, which were servation of wild felid species and must be sustainably managed and protected. conducted in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Geographically, protected areas in Bhutan Bhutan is located at the junction of three to estimate Bhutan’s tiger population (DoFPS constitute 51.4% of the total country’s area, ecological regions: The Indo-Malayan re- 2015). Camera traps for estimating tiger densi� and about 48.6% lie outside protected areas, gion, consisting of lowland rainforest of the ty were first used in Jigme Singye Wangchuck which are managed by 14 Territorial Forest south and south-east Asia; the Palearctic re� National Park JSWNP (Wang & Macdonald Divisions TFD (Dhendup & Dorji 2018). Al- gion, consisting of rhododendron/conifer for- 2009) followed by Tempa et al. (2011) in Royal though regulations exist in the TFDs, wildlife est and alpine meadows of North Asia and Manas National Park RMNP and Thinley et al. maybe threatened since TFDs do a lot of forest Europe; and the Himalayan front (Wangchuk et al. 2004). Owing to the variety of forest types, Bhutan is home to a rich assemblage of wild mammal fauna, including nine spe� cies of wild cats (Wangchuk et al. 2004). They are tiger, snow leopard Panthera uncia, common leopard, clouded leopard, marbled cat, Asiatic golden cat, leopard cat, Pallas's cat Otocolobus manul and jungle cat Felis chaus. The occurrence of Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx isabellinus and fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus is suspected, but not confirmed (Dhendup & Dorji 2018). The Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan 1995 lists the tiger, snow leopard, clouded leopard, and leopard cat as schedule I species. In the last three decades, wildlife research and conservation in Bhutan have focused mostly on tigers, snow leopards, and protected areas. In the 1990s, questionnaire surveys and sign surveys were carried out Fig. 1. Map showing the geographical location of the study area.
CATnews 70 Autumn 2019 Ghimirey Y., Thakuri J. J., Acharya R., Adhikary B., Lama R. P., Ghale T. R., Nepal M., Sherpa C. & Shah K. B. 2019. Possible records of the Asiatic Wildcat in Nepal. Cat News 70, 22–25. Supporting Online Material.
SOM F1. The location of a potential Asiatic wildcat in Tanahun district (yellow marker) is a mosaic of bush land and scattered forest.
SOM F2. Location of the cat (yellow marker) photographed in Kathmandu. The site is surrounded by human habitation, but it is less than 2 km from the forests of Shivapuri-Nagarjuna National Park in the west.