First photographic evidence of Asian Golden Cat <i>Catopuma temminckii</i> (Vigors and Horsfield, 1827) from Neora valley National Park, Central Himalayas, India

Abstract

Despite of the knowledge gap on estimated population and density of this species across its geographical range, Asian Golden Cat is currently listed as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List and listed in Appendix I by CITES as the current population is dwindling (McCarthy et al., 2015;Dhendup, 2016). It is also included under the Scheduled I in the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 (Anonymous, 1972. Asian Golden Cat is a poorly studied species both in wild and captivity. Much of the information on various ecological aspects including habits ecology, social structure, and breeding behaviour is not known (Olsen, 2012).Generally, the Asian golden cat looks similar to Puma concolor of America. They usually have an unmarked golden brown coat. Two distinctive mustache-like white stripes on the face and longitudinal markings on the forehead are present. The tail is long and not bushy (Menon, 2014; Grewal and Chakravarty, 2017). Asian Golden Cat shows various pelages in coat colour. There are four morphs that are known to science till date, such as common or normal, grey, melanistic and spotted (McCarthy et al., 2015;Dhendup, 2016). These pelage formations are considered to be local adaptations due to its diverse habitat use (Allen et al., 2011). Among these pelages, golden cats with melanistic pelages have been found to be occurring in the sub-alpine and alpine habitats of Central Himalayas in India (Bashir et al., 2011). The spotted pelages have been recorded from habitats viz.

Camera Trap Evidence of Polymorphic Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii) in Trashigang Forest Division, Eastern Bhutan

“…The golden morph was reported to be the most widely distributed form (Jigme, 2011;Dhendup, 2016;Nijhawan et al, 2019). A similar observation was also made from the northeast state (West Bengal, Assam, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Tripura) of India (Gouda et al, 2016;Chatterjee et al, 2018) and Nepal (Ghimirey and Pal, 2009). Our findings also corroborate with these observations as the golden morph was photographed from relatively wider elevation boundaries than the other co-occurring morphs.…”

“…Asiatic golden cat, Captopuma temminckii Vigors and Horsfield, 1827, is a medium sized elusive and the largest group of smaller oriental felines (Bashir et al, 2011;Gouda et al, 2016;Ghose et al, 2019). The golden cat has been categorized as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Dhendup, 2016;Wangyel et al, 2020) and is listed in Appendix I of CITES (McCarthy et al, 2015;Chatterjee et al, 2018) and Schedule I of the Forest and Nature Conservation Act of Bhutan, 1995(FNCA, 1995.…”

Bird assemblages in a peri-urban landscape in eastern India

“…The colonization of granivorous in cropland and wasteland because the open habitats provide abundant seed grain (Chettri et al, 2005; Diaz and Telleria, 1996). Fruiting plants are regulated by the frugivorous birds (Chatterjee et al, 2018; Trager and Mistry, 2003). We observed that the abundance of frugivorous birds is higher in forest areas than in residential areas because of high fruit plant diversity (Gomes et al, 2008).…”

A systematic scoping review of tiger conservation in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas

“…Monitoring of tigers, co-predators and prey has been recommended in the upper Himalayan region (e.g. Bhattacharya & Habib, 2016; Adhikarimayum & Gopi, 2018; GTF, 2019; Chatterjee et al, 2020). Several studies have reported that tigers move across country borders in the Terai Arc Landscape and Himalayas (e.g.…”