See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/312619825 Photographic evidence of marbled cat from Dampa Ti- ger Reserve, Mizoram, India Article · January 2017 CITATIONS READS 0 88 3 authors, including: Janmejay Sethy Sushanto Gouda Amity University Amity University 43 PUBLICATIONS 22 CITATIONS 31 PUBLICATIONS 112 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Proteomic and genomic responses of plants to nutritional stress View project Status and Distribution of Malayan Sun Bear in North-Eastern States of India View project All content following this page was uploaded by Janmejay Sethy on 24 January 2017. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. short communication 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 Pardofelis marmorata is one of the rarest and the least known felid forest 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 Arunachal Pradesh. 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 sun bear 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 Cats at high altitudes in Bhutan. Ne- gated canines (Sunquist & Sunquist 2002). western limits of Mizoram, India, bordering BIO 7, 35 -37. The marbled cat is listed as Near Threatened Bangladesh 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 Felis 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 China through Myanmar (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 Thailand. Cat News 33, 24. land (Grassman & Tewer 2000), Laos PDR, of the day: on 22 December 2015 at 10:36 Gumal M., Salleh A. B. B. M., Yasak M. N., Horing Vietnam, Cambodia (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., Malay Peninsula (Gumal et al. 2014), Borneo (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 Sumatra (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 Malaysia. 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 forests 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: Carnivora: Shepherd C. R. & Nijman V. 2008. The wild cat trade 2 Amity Institute of Wildlife Science, Amity Univer- Felidae) 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, *<[email protected]> 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 Prionailurus 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 rodents 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.