Arunachal Pradesh records first-ever photographic evidence of the elusive Pallas's cat

NEW DELHI: A wildlife survey conducted in Arunachal Pradesh has brought out first-ever photographic evidence of the elusive Pallas’s cat in the state, reaffirming the eastern Himalayan terrain as a global biodiversity hotspot.

The survey, conducted by WWF-India in association with the forest department of the Arunachal Pradesh government, also recorded the presence of other wild cats - snow leopard, common leopard, clouded leopard and marbled cat - above 4200 metres, indicating the landscape’s unique wild cat diversity.

“The discovery of Pallas’s cat in Arunachal Pradesh at nearly 5,000 metres is a powerful reminder of how little we still know about life in the high Himalayas,” said Rishi Kumar Sharma, head-science and conservation, Himalayas programme, WWF-India.

Pallas’s cat is one of the most elusive and rarely photographed wild cats, and remains one of the least studied feline species. Its documentation in Arunachal Pradesh extends the known distribution of the species in the eastern Himalaya, adding to earlier confirmed records from Sikkim, Bhutan, and eastern Nepal.

Though WWF-India conducted the survey during July-Sept last year, its findings were released only recently. The organisation claimed to have deployed 136 camera traps in 83 locations across 2,000 sq km of rugged high-altitude rangelands in West Kameng and Tawang districts, making it one of the most extensive wildlife monitoring exercises.

Besides getting photographic record of Pallas’s cat, the survey documented the highest elevation records for common leopard at 4,600 metres above sea level (masl), clouded leopard at 4,650 masl, marbled cat at 4,326 masl, Himalayan wood owl at 4,194 masl and grey-headed flying squirrel at 4,506 masl.

WWF-India’s findings noted that the elevation records for these species were the “highest in India to dateand may exceed previously known global elevation limits”.

“The discovery of Pallas’s cat in Arunachal Pradesh is a milestone for wildlife research in the eastern Himalayas. These findings reaffirm the state’s importance as a global biodiversity hotspot and highlight the need for continued investment in scientific monitoring and conservation,” said Ngilyang Tam, state’s principal chief conservator of forests and chief wildlife warden (wildlife and biodiversity).