ISSN 1027-2992
CATnewsN° 60 | SPRING 2014 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 60 Spring 2014 Pallas‘s cat in Iran
Pallas’s cats. Journal of Mammalogy 91, 811- 817. Ross S., Kamnitzer R., Munkhtsog B. S. & Harris S. 2010b. Den-site selection is critical for Pallas’s cats (Otocolobus manul), Canadian Journal of Zoology 88, 905-913. Ross S ., Kamnitzer R., Munkhtsog B. & Harris S. 2012. Determinants of mesocarnivore range use: relative effects of prey and habitat prop- erties on Pallas’s cat home-range size. Journal of Mammalogy 93, 1292-1300. Smith A. T., Formozov N. A., Hoffmann R. S., ChanglinZ. & Erbajeva M. A. 1990. The pikas. In Rabbits, hares and pikas: status survey and conservation action plan. Chapman J. C. & Flux J. E. C. (Eds). IUCN, Gland, Switzerland, pp. 14-60. Ziaie H. 2008. Field guide to mammals of Iran. Ira- nian Wildlife Center, Tehran, 432 pp.
Fig. 2. Confirmed records of Pallas’ cat in Iran (Karami et al., in 1 Fars provincial office of Department of Environ- press) and the new observation point in the Fars Province. ment, Iran *
RICHARD WEBB1*, DEBBIE PAIN2, DUNCAN MCNIVEN3, SID FRANCIS4 down to watch us from a distance of about 100 m. It remained watching us for over Pallas’s cat in disturbed habi- an hour before eventually starting hunting roughly 45 minutes before dark. tat on the Tibetan Plateau It snowed overnight and we were unable to locate the cat after an hour’s search early Most records of Pallas’s cat Otocolobus manul come from remote, undisturbed up- the following morning. The snow, however, land habitats. Here we report on a sighting in 2012 of Pallas’s cat from a heavily melted during the day, and when we return- disturbed area of the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan, China. ed during the afternoon we re-found the cat in the same general area after an hour’s wait. On 31 October 2012 we were looking for 250 m from the road. We walked out across On this occasion the cat quickly disappeared mammals on the Tibetan Plateau north of the steppe and eventually identified the cat down a marmot’s burrow when RW tried Rouergai, in Sichuan Province, China. The as Pallas’s cat (Fig. 1). The cat disappeared to approach. On all three occasions the cat morning had been successful with two sight- over a small ridge and when we reached the seemed reasonably relaxed about our pres- ings of wolf Canis lupus and several sightings ridge the cat was only about 50 m away but ence as long as it could see where we were of Tibetan fox Vulpes ferrilata, all attracted to disappeared down a marmot burrow carrying and we were not too close. the large numbers of plateau (black-lipped) a pika. It remained out of view for about 5 Pallas’s cat has been recorded in the Rouergai pika Ochotona curzoniae that occur in the minutes before reappearing, minus the pika, area previously. SF saw one about 25 km from area. and giving excellent views, albeit it in strong Rouergai on 31 May 2011, and Victor Emma- At 11:05 h, at 3,470 m, just north of the toll heat haze, for almost an hour. nuel Nature Tours saw one in May 2011 near gate about 60 kilometres north of Rouergai, We left the cat hunting but returned later in Flower Lake, along with the rarer Chinese 33°59.725’N / 102°45.057’E, we stopped to the day and re-found it in the same area just mountain cat Felis bieti the following day. scan an area of steppe to the west of the road, after 16:30 h. On this occasion we took it by Although Aghili et al. (2008) encountered Pal- and SF immediately spotted a small cat about surprise and it ran about 50 m before sitting las’s cat in proximity to villages in north-west
CATnews 60 Spring 2014 Pallas‘s cat in disturbed habitat on the Tibetan Plateau
Iran and Chanchani (2008) found the species in an area known to be occupied by domestic livestock in North Sikkim, the species is often considered to occur mainly in remote undis- turbed areas. However, the area where we made our observations was no more than 400 m from a busy toll gate and service station (Fig. 2) and was subject to heavy disturbance from pastoralists (Fig. 3). When we first saw the cat, a motorbike carrying a pastoralist passed within 50 m of it but the cat carried on hunting without a concern. On the second af- ternoon, while we were waiting for the cat to appear, a herd of >200 domestic yaks accom- panied by a mastiff guard dog passed through the small ‘valley’ that the cat was occupying. Nevertheless, within 30 minutes the cat was Fig. 1. Pallas’s cat, Rouergai, Sichuan, China, 31. October 2012 (Photo D. McNiven). out and rolling around totally unconcerned that the herd remained only 100 m away. Perhaps of interest was the fact that the cat was seen in an area where we observed few canids. During the four visits to the area we encountered only one red fox Vulpes vulpes within 200 m of where the cat was hunting. By contrast only 5 km or so farther south, Ti- betan fox were very common. Over a three- day period we had over 30 sightings of Tibet- 20 an fox and six sightings of at least 14 wolves between five and 20 km south of where we saw the Pallas’s cat. Although only anecdotal, this may suggest that Pallas’s cat, while tol- erant of humans, prefers areas where foxes and wolves occur at low densities. However, there are past records of Pallas’s cat closer to Rouergai in areas where foxes and wolves are more common (see above). Fig. 2. Proximity of human habitation to Pallas’s cat habitat, Rouergai, Sichuan, October The trip was very successful from a mammal- 2012 (Photo R. Webb). watching perspective, and anyone interested in visiting the area and wanting more in- formation is welcome to contact RW or SF, or can access the full trip report at http:// www.mammalwatching.com/Palearctic/ palearctchina.html.
References Aghili A., Masoud R., Murdoch J.D. and Mallon D.P. 2008. First Record of Pallas’s Cat in North- west Iran. Cat News 49, 8-9. Chanchani P, 2008. Sighting of a Manul or Pallas Cat in Northern Sikkim, India. Cat News 48, 18-19.
1 Poole, UK *
CATnews 60 Spring 2014