Trap camera captures ‘rusty spotted cat’ in Bengal forests

Kolkata: The trap cameras laid at strategic locations to track the movement of the tiger in the forest of Purulia, Bankura and Jhargram captured a “rusty spotted cat”, considered as world’s smallest and lightest, in the wild.

In December and January, two tigers had moved in these forests for a considerable time. The cameras recorded the small cat in Purulia as well as in Khatra subdivision of Bankura, which bears testimony to the fact that the forest provides a suitable habitat for the sustenance of the animal.

Rusty spotted cat weights between 0.9 and 1.6 kg. A newborn kitten weighs less than a chicken egg and an adult weighs less than a typical dome cat.It is only found in three countries— Sri Lanka, Nepal and India. India has the highest number. Such cat species are considered ‘near threatened’ in IUCN Red List. They were previously documented in states like Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka and Kerala, among others. Its sighting is very rare as it is a small, elusive species.

“We have started our study to identify pockets in the forest to locate their territory. We wish to provide them with a prey base. They mainly eat rodents. We know they exist there and we are trying to further increase their population,” said S. Kulandaivel, chief conservator of forest (Central). A forest official said the recent movement by tigers, presence of leopards and now this lesser cat show that the wild food chain is being maintained in the forests here. Detection of leopards here led to enhanced conservation surveillance.