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Photographic evidence of marbled from Dampa Ti- ger Reserve, Mizoram,

Article · January 2017

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JANMEJAY SETHY1*, SUSHANTO GOUDA2 AND NETRAPAL SINGH CHAUHAN2 Acknowledgements We are thankful to the Ocean Park Foundation, Photographic evidence of Hongkong, for the financial support in carrying out the project. We would like to thank Mr. Liandawla, marbled cat from Dampa Ti- Chief Wildlife Warden of Mizoram and Mr. Lalrin� mawia, Field Director of Dampa Tiger Reserve for ger Reserve, Mizoram, India permitting us to work in the reserve and their help and support. The authors are also thankful to the The marbled cat marmorata is one of the rarest and the least known felid staff of Dampa for their help and co-operati� species. It is listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List and in Appendix I of on during the course of the field work. CITES. In India, the species is restricted to eastern Himalayan foothills, especially . Twice a marbled cat was photo-captured in tropical mixed fo- Reference rest of Dampa Tiger Reserve at an elevation of 586 m in December 2015. In view of the Borah J., Wangchuk D., Swargowari A., Wangchuk fact that, there is a great paucity of information on the present status and distribution T., Sharma T., Das D., Rabha N., Basumatari A., of the species, and that not many confirmed records are available, the photographic Kakati N., Ahmed M. F., Sharma A., Sarmah A., evidence of a marble cat in Dampa Tiger Reserve can contribute to determine its Dutta D. K., Lahkar B., Dorji T., Brahma P. K., distribution and habitat. Ramchiary L., Tempa T., Wangdi Y., Nedup T., Wangdi T., Tharchen L., Dhendup P., Bhobora Marbled cat is one of the rarest and the least used for photo-capturing Malayan C., Pandav B. & Vattakaven J. 2013. Tigers in known felid in South Asia. It is a small, elusive, in over 500 km2 of forest reserve. Camera the transboundary Manas conservation com� forest-dependent felid with a uniquely mar� traps were set based on indirect evidences plex: Conservation implications across borders. bled coat pattern. Morphologically, the mar� and preliminary transects surveys and were Parks 19, 51-60. bled cat resembles the clouded leopard with functional on average during 20-30 days in Dhendup T. 2016. Notes on the occurrence of a long tail, cloudlike pelage pattern, and elon� an area. The reserve is situated within the Marbled at high altitudes in . Ne� gated canines (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). western limits of Mizoram, India, bordering BIO 7, 35 -37. The marbled cat is listed as Near Threatened and falls within 23°3'48.11'' N Duckworth J. W., Poole C. M., Tizard R. J., Walston in the IUCN Red List and in Appendix I of / 92°23'40.70'' E (Renthlei et al. 2011). In J. L. & Timmins R. J. 2005. The Jungle Cat 26 CITES (Ross et al. 2016). It is protected by the course of the study, twice a marbled chaus in Indochina: A threatened population of national legislation across most of its range. cat individual was photo-captured in tropi� widespread and adaptive species. Biodiversity The species is known to occur from south- cal mixed forest of Dampa Tiger Reserve at and Conservation 14, 1263-1280. east through (Shepherd & an elevation of 586 m. The cat was photo- Grassman L. I. Jr. & Tewers M. E. 2000. Marbled Nijman 2008), Bhutan (Dhendup 2016), Thai� captured while on a move at different times Cat in north eastern . Cat News 33, 24. land (Grassman & Tewer 2000), PDR, of the day: on 22 December 2015 at 10:36 Gumal M., Salleh A. B. B. M., Yasak M. N., Horing , (Duckworth et al. 2005), h and on 27 December 2015 at 16:51 h L.S., Lee B. P. Y. H., Pheng L. C., Hamzah H., (Gumal et al. 2014), (23°39'19.48'' N / 92°22'05.90'' E; Fig. 1). In Kong D., Magintan D., Yung D. T. C., Zalaluddin (Rustam et al. 2016) and (Pusparini view of the fact that, there is a great pauci� A. Z. B., Azmi A. B., Khalid N. B., Yen T. P., Mu� et al. 2014). In India, the marbled cat can only ty of information on the present status and feng V., Meng F. C. F. M. & Ng S. 2014. Small- be found in the eastern Himalayan foothills, distribution of the species and not many medium wild cats of Endau Rompin Landscape especially Arunachal Pradesh (Selvan et al. confirmed information available, the photo� in Johor, Peninsular . Cat News Spe� 2013) and in Assam (Borah et al. 2013). Mar� graphic evidence of a marble cat in Dampa cial Issue 8, 10-18. bled cats are mainly found in moist and mixed Tiger Reserve can contribute to determine Pusparini W., Wibisono H., Reddy G., Tarmizi T. & deciduous-evergreen tropical and in its distribution and habitat. The species is Bharata P. 2014. Small and medium sized cats hill forests (Ross et al. 2016). endangered and its population is believed to in Gunung Leuser National Park, Sumatra, In� As part of our study in Dampa Tiger Reserve be declining due to hunting and poaching. donesia. Cat News Special Issue 8, 4-9. from 2014-2016, 15 camera traps were de� Occurrence of the cat in a protected area Renthlei V., Solanki G. S. & Zakhuma 2011. Birds ployed at 8 to 12 stations with 1 to 2 came� like Dampa Tiger Reserve can further boost of Dampa Tiger Reserve in Mizoram, India. Ad� ra traps per station. They were extensively the population and survival of the species. vances in Environmental Chemistry, 243-246. Ross J., Brodie J., Cheyne S., Datta A., Hearn A., Loken B., Lynam A., McCarthy J., Phan C., Ras� phone A., Singh P. & Wilting A. 2016. Pardofelis marmorata. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, e.T16218A97164299. Downloaded on 20 October 2016. Rustam, Hearn A. J., Ross J., Alfred R., Samejima H., Heydon M., Cheyne S. M., Brodie J. F., Gi� ordano A. J., Bernard H., Boonratana R., Loken B., Mohamed A., Jayasilan M.-A., Augeri D. Fig. 1. Photo captures of a marbled cat in Dampa Tiger Reserve. M., Eaton J., Hon J., Marshall A. J., Mathai J.,

CATnews 65 Winter 2017 original contribution

Semiadi G., Macdonald D. W., Breitenmoser- Cat Pardofelis marmorata in the Ziro Valley of 1 Department of Zoology, North Orissa Univer- Würsten C., Kramer-Schadt S. & Wilting A. Lower Subansiri, Arunachal Pradesh, Indian sity, Takatpur, Baripada, Mayurbhanj, Odisha, 2016. Predicted distribution of the marbled cat Journal of Threatened Taxa 5, 3583-3584. 757003 Pardofelis marmorata (Mammalia: : Shepherd C. R. & Nijman V. 2008. The wild cat trade 2 Amity Institute of Wildlife Science, Amity Univer- ) on Borneo. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology in Myanmar.Selangor, Malaysia. TRAFFIC, 24 pp. sity Uttar Pradesh, Gautam Buddha Nagar, Sec- 33, 157-164. Sunquist M. E. & Sunquist F. 2002. Wild Cats of the tor-125, Noida, Pin-201313 Selvan K. M., Gopi V. M., Habib B. & Lyngdoh S. World. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, * 2013. Hunting record of endangered Marbled Illinois. 462 pp.

PARTHA DEY1 AND TIASA ADHYA1,2 Fishing cat conservation in human dominated landscapes of West Bengal, India

Fishing cat viverrinus is the only riparian specialist among felid species in South Asia. In India, it is majorly found in periodically inundated floodplains and coastal deltas. It is present in the low-lying parts of Howrah district, West Bengal, which is located in the intensively modified lower Gangetic floodplain. These parts are seasonally inundated and have native marshlands or marsh cultivation giving re- fuge to fishing cat. The felid is known to take domestic fowls and small livestock in the district invoking retaliatory killing. We worked with locals to instil a sense of Fig. 1. Study area pride in conserving fishing cats through awareness campaigns, knowledge sharing 27 discussions and more targeted campaigns to convey the legal consequences of kil- ling or injuring the species. During the knowledge sharing discussions, we explained the cat’s role in controlling that are agricultural pests and recorded local na- tural history anecdotes of it. The knowledge shared contributed to the management plan of a local self-governed conservation constituency. Facilitating its formation was our next objective. We also collaborated with Howrah district council because a ma- jor disadvantage to conservation is the limited infrastructural presence of the Forest Department. As a result of the collaboration, the council formed Fishing Cat Protection Fig. 3. Fishing cat picture taken in How- Committees in partnership with community members. Efficient local conservation ef- rah district by local people (Photo Kamar- forts however could be nullified by ecologically uninformed development policies. garia youth association).

Fishing cat is among the only two wetland nutrient rich meadows and swamp formation is one human-dominated area where the specialist felids out of the 38 extant felid in these areas. The fishing cat also occurs fishing cat presently persists. Adhya (2015) species. Double-coated fur, partially web� in the famous Gangetic delta (Sundarbans) showed that fishing cat (using mitochondrial bed feet, half-retractile claws, and a stubby and smaller deltas along the Bay of Bengal’s DNA; 16sr RNA region) was strongly tied to rudder-like tail are some of its morphologi� coastline which face daily tidal fluctuations native or cultivated marshy reed beds in this cal adaptations which allow efficient use of and where mangroves are the predominant district. The importance of water bodies as land–water ecotones. In India, fishing cat is vegetation. feeding grounds is evident from fish remains mostly found in the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Genetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA in 90% of the scats. Commensal re� Yamuna floodplains that experience perio� revealed that fishing cat populations were mains (e.g. Bandicota bengalensis, Rattus dic inundation due to predictable seasonal historically connected across protected are� rattus) were found in almost 70% of scats. floods and/or heavy rainfall. Graminoid com� as PA within its range, spanning from alluvial The felid’s high dependence on fish and oc� munities comprising Phragmites, Imperata, grasslands in the northern Terai (e.g. Dudhwa casional dependence on small like Saccharum, Themeda, Arundo and Typha Tiger Reserve) southwards to coastal man� goats in-vokes retaliation (Adhya 2015). are a significant type of vegetation in these groves (e.g. Sundarbans National Park, Co� Firstly, we aimed to inculcate a sense of pride floodplains that can tolerate alternation ringa Wildlife Sanctuary; Mukherjee 2016). in conserving fishing cat by working together between periods of inundation and dryness Thus, persistence of populations in human- with local people. Secondly, we mainstream (Vasu & Singh 2015). Flooding, over-spilling dominated landscapes between PAs is cri� its conservation by collaborating with the of water into surrounding plains led to a dy� tical for long term conservation of fishing elected district council under the Panchayati namic complex of anabranches, oxbow lakes, cat in India. Howrah district, West Bengal, Raj system of rural India.

CATnews 65 Winter 2017

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