First ever image of leopard cat in PTR

 

 

 

 

 

Leopard cat, a native of North East India, has been first time captured by a camera trap in Pench Tiger Reserve (PTR), Maharashtra recently. The image captured is of a site inside a seasonal stream near Narahar village in PTR. This is the first record of this felidae in Central India. Leopard cat (scientific name Prionailurus Bengalensis), a most common and widespread species after the jungle cat in India due to its adaptive flexibility, is restricted to North East India, northern Himalayan states, West Bengal, Odisha and pockets of Western Ghats and is absent in Central India. A total 15 species of felidaes are found in India, constituting more than 40% of global felidae diversity. Of the number of felidae species present in India, 10 are small felidaes, which is also the highest number globally. Though small felidaes play important ecological and socio-economic roles due to their predation mainly on rodents, the data of these felidaes is deficient.

 

The area of Pench Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra, is over 740 sq km (257.26 sq km buffer and 483.96 sq km of core) which has 7 ranges, of which 2 are buffer and 5 are core. The Reserve gets its name from the Pench River which halves the Reserve in two parts — east Pench and west Pench — and flows 74 km through the forest. The northern part of PTR is a hilly terrain while the southern part is relatively plain. Forest type is predominantly a Tropical Dry Deciduous and Semi-evergreen forest dominated by teak (scientific name Tectona grandis). Reserve shows corridor connectivity with Melghat Tiger Reserve to the west, Navegaon-Nagzira Tiger Reserve to the southeast, Pench Tiger Reserve (MP) to the north, and Kanha Tiger Reserve (MP) to the northeast. The grid bearing leopard cat was found in Compartment number 663 of Narhar beat of buffer range ‘Nagalwadi’ Range which is part of Mansingh Deo wildlife sanctuary. Adjoining forest of West Pench range, which was declared National Park in 1975 and tiger reserve in 1999, is one of the most pristinely preserved area in Central Indian landscape.

 

The area is just 2 km away from the Narhar village. A leopard cat is about the size of a domestic cat, but more slender, with longer legs and well-defined webs between its toes. Its small head is marked with two prominent dark stripes and a short and narrow white muzzle. There are two dark stripes running from the eyes to the ears and smaller white streaks running from the eyes to the nose. Studying distribution of any animal is vital to make any conservation efforts holistic. The current finding will pave the way for the more works in the distribution of the hitherto relatively under-studied felidae and will provide a better opportunity to hypothesise the theories of its distribution in India.