Pallas's Cat Status Review & Conservation

ISSN 1027-2992 I Special Issue I N° 13 | Spring 2019 Pallas'sCAT cat Status Reviewnews & Conservation Strategy 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 pu�� Cat Specialist Group lished twice a year, and is availa�le to mem�ers 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] <urs.�[email protected]�e.ch> <ch.�[email protected]> Original contri�utions and short notes a�out wild cats are welcome Send contributions and observations to Associate Editors: Ta�ea Lanz [email protected]. Guidelines for authors are availa�le at www.catsg.org/catnews This Special Issue of CATnews has �een produced with Cover Photo: Camera trap picture of manul in the support from the Taiwan Council of Agriculture's Forestry Bureau, Kot�as Hills, Kazakhstan, 20. July 2016 Fondation Segré, AZA Felid TAG and Zoo Leipzig. (Photo A. Barashkova, I Smelansky, Si�ecocenter) Design: �ar�ara sur�er, werk’sdesign gm�h Layout: Ta�ea Lanz and Christine Breitenmoser Print: Stämpfli AG, Bern, Switzerland ISSN 1027-2992 © IUCN SSC Cat Specialist Group 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 Special Issue 13 Spring 2019 chapter 8 STEVEN ROSS1*, EHSAN M. MOQANAKI2, ANNA BARASHKOVA3, TASHI DHENDUP4,5, ILYA num�ers result in heavy grazing and ha�itat SMELANSKY3, SERGEY NAIDENKO6, ANASTASIA ANTONEVICH6 AND GUSTAF SAMELIUS7,8 degradation, �ut also in displacement of Pallas’s cats and increasing num�er of herd� Past, present and future ing dogs which are known to kill Pallas’s cats (Fig. 1, 3; Chapter 4; Ross 2009, Barashkova threats and conservation & Smelansky 2011, Ross et al. 2012, Joolaee et al. 2014, Farhadinia et al. 2016, Ruta 2018). needs of Pallas's cats Predation �y herding dogs, feral dogs, acci� dental capture when trapping or snaring other Habitat degradation and fragmentation, largely caused by increasing livestock animals, and illegal and legal hunting are the numbers, conversion of steppe to arable land, infrastructure development, and re- main recorded causes of direct anthropogenic source extraction, are generally considered the main threats to Pallas’s cats Oto- mortality of Pallas’s cats (Fig. 2, 4; Ross 2009, colobus manul across its range. In addition, predation by domestic dogs, accidental Barashkova & Smelansky 2011, Farhadinia et capture when hunting/trapping other animals, decreasing prey numbers and poison- al. 2016, Ross et al. 2016, Ruta 2018; Chapters ing can seriously impact local populations. We expect the impact of climate change 3–5). New emerging threats are also of con� and disease to increase in the near future, but the potential extent and severity of cern. Climate change for example is predicted these threats are currently poorly understood and vary considerably between coun- to have large impacts on the grasslands and tries and regions. Even though our understanding of the basic ecology and distri- mountain ecosystems of Central Asia and the bution of Pallas’s cat has increased during the last decade, a clearer scientific un- Himalayas (Angerer et al. 2008, Ross et al. derstanding is required to support the species conservation. Additional ecological 2016; Chapter 10). research is critical, but our inability to efficiently monitor the species across its vast range and reliably detect population trends and distributional changes is arguably Ecological susceptibility: the relation- the most important gap in our understanding. ship between Pallas’s cat ecology and conservation The Pallas’s cat is listed as Near Threatened ing threats, the glo�al population is esti� From an ecological perspective, the Pallas’s on the IUCN Red List (Ross et al. 2016). The mated to �e decreasing, �ut there are very cat has several traits that make it vulnera� species occurs over a very large area, with few relia�le estimates of population size �le to local extinction. These include ha�itat 46 an area of occupancy of c. 2,269,000 km2, and trend (Ross et al. 2016). Although such specialisation, feeding specialisation and low although the estimate is associated with a wide�ranging species is unlikely to face density, �ut this may �e somewhat countered considera�le uncertainty. Based on increas� range�wide extinction in the short term, low �y other traits which are associated with resil� density and sensitivity to anthropogenic dis� ience, such as large litter size, a�ility for long tur�ances (Ross 2009), renders the species range dispersal and physiological tolerance vulnera�le to local extinctions. This chapter (Ross et al. 2010a, �, 2012, 2016). discusses current and future threats faced �y A study of the spatial ecology and resource Pallas’s cat (Ta�le 1) from a theoretical and selection of Pallas’s cats in Mongolia found evidence��ased stand point. that Pallas’s cats were highly selective of resources (Ross 2009). Specialist and highly Habitat fragmentation and degradation selective species, in turn, have �een found to The most serious threat to Pallas’s cats across �e more vulnera�le to extinction (Purvis et al. its range is ha�itat degradation and frag� 2000), as they generally have lower resilience mentation, that are largely consequences of to change (Begon et al. 1996). The population increasing livestock num�ers, conversion of in Mongolia selected ha�itats that had more steppe grasslands into ara�le land, infrastruc� disruptive cover, such as rocky areas and ra� ture development and resource extraction. vine ha�itats, and avoided open areas without Mineral exploitation (especially mining and cover (Ross 2009). Pallas’s cats were also very petrochemical extraction) and infrastructural selective with regard to their prey (Ross et al. developments have also increased su�stan� 2010a). Although the species ate almost all tially across the range with increased frag� availa�le food resources, they were highly se� mentation as a result (Awehali 2011, Paltsyn lective of pikas Ochotona spp., eating a higher et al. 2012, Selles 2013). Due to degradation proportion of pikas than predicted �ased on and loss of ha�itat Pallas’s cat populations are their availa�ility. In all regions where the feed� �ecoming increasingly fragmented, and isolat� ing ecology of Pallas’s cats has �een investi� ed su�populations are very likely disappearing gated, pikas have formed more than 50% of Fig. 1. Skin of a manul killed by herder without our knowledge (Ross et al. 2016). In their diet (e.g. Heptner & Sludski 1972, Ross dogs in Dogalan Hills, East Kazakhstan Mongolia, for example, livestock num�ers et al. 2010a; Chapter 3). As pikas are 2–4 Uplands, Eastern Kazakhstan, July 2013. have increased from 26 million in 1991 to 66 times larger than other common small mam� Killing by herder dogs is a major threat to million in 2018 (FAO 1998, National Statistical mal prey, the Pallas’s cat’s preference for pikas manul across its range (Photo M. Gritsyna). Office of Mongolia 2018). Increasing livestock may reflect optimised hunting efficiency, en� CATnews Special Issue 13 Spring 2019 threats and conservation needs of Pallas's cats ergy intake, and the year�round availa�ility of pika (Ross et al. 2010a). Maintaining energy stores may �e very important considering the unpredicta�le nature of prey availa�ility over the winter period. Another example of their specialist �ehaviour and dependency on critical resources is their need of denning and resting sites to pro� vide cover from predators, thermoregulation, and raising of young (Ross et al. 2010�). As Pallas’s cats are una�le to dig �urrows them� selves, they are dependent on existing cavi� ties (Ross et al. 2010�). Such cavities primar� ily consist of rock crevices, marmot �urrows, Fig. 2. Locals showing a skin of a poached manul, Eastern Kazakhstan, March 2012, while and �urrows of sympatric predators (Ross conservationists explain the species is rare and protected by law (Photo R. Nefedov). et al. 2010�; Chapter 2 & 3). Most marmot species are in decline, and Si�erian marmots species are relatively common, the epidemio� (the organisms causing toxoplasmosis) in wild Marmota sibirica, which are sympatric with logical conditions in captive settings may have Pallas’s cats, their prey species, and sympat� Pallas’s cats, have decreased considera�ly little relationship to those in the wild, though ric domestic cats in central Mongolia and in due to overharvesting and are now listed as suscepti�ility of wild and captive Pallas’s cats Daursky, Russia. These two studies suggested Endangered (Zahler et al. 2004, Clayton 2016). should �e the same. that the low prevalence of T. gondii and other The decline of marmots could have dramatic In captivity, Pallas’s cat kittens are known to diseases in Pallas’s cats was the result of li� effects on Pallas’s cats a�ility to find critical �e very sensitive to toxoplasmosis with up to mited exposure, low host density and extreme shelter ha�itats (Ross et al. 2010�, Zielinski 50% kitten mortality in zoo settings (Swanson environmental conditions. However, a recent 2015). Although o�servations indicate that 1999). Other infectious agents are also known study of disease ecology in southern Mongo� Pallas’s cats may fulfill this niche require� to cause mortality in captive settings.

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