The smallest wild cat species in the world, rusty spotted cats, are found in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The species play a critical role in controlling rodent populations in agricultural fields and farmlands, therefore being important to agriculture-dependent communities. With a current decreasing trend in their population as per the IUCN, over the past decade, rusty-spotted cats have potentially gone through severe population declines because of habitat alterations, pesticide poisoning, road kills, and being killed when mistaken for leopard cubs. The species is protected under Schedule I of the Indian Wildlife Protection Act, classified as Near Threatened in the IUCN Red List, and listed in CITES Appendix 1. The species faces various threats and is in need of conservation efforts to ensure its survival, which our project aims to achieve.
Our project aims to provide robust evidence to aid in the protection and conservation of rusty spotted cats and its landscape through scientific monitoring and engaging local communities. Additionally, we will also be establishing Small wild cat protection committees comprising individuals from villages and village-level governing bodies. By developing GIS-based habitat maps for Rusty-Spotted cats in the project area, we will identify suitable areas for the species which will aid in targeted efforts of community-based conservation of the species and its habitats. In the instance where rusty spotted cats were sighted and observed to be stranded or in threat, we will aid in in rescue and release of the cats along with community members with the help of the forest department.
