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ISSN 1027-2992
CAT
news
N° 60 | SPRING 2014
CATnews 60 Spring 2014
02
CATnews is the newsletter of the Cat Specialist Group,
a component of the Species Survival Commission SSC of the
International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It is pub-
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Cover Photo: Lion pride in Hwange, Zimbabwe
Photo Paul Funston
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opinion whatsoever on the part of the IUCN concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or its authorities, or concerning the
delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
CATnews 60 Spring 2014
28
clouded leopard in Nepal
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Man Kumar
Chaudhary for sharing this valuable in-
formation.
References
Borradaile L., Green M., Moon L., Robinson P. &
Tait A. 1977. Langtang National Park Manage-
ment Plan. National Parks and Wildlife Conser-
vation Project-Nepal. Working Document No.
7. FAO/UNDP, Rome.
Dinerstein E. & Mehta J. N. 1989. The Clouded
Leopard in Nepal. Oryx 23, 199-201.
Ghimirey Y., Acharya R., Adhikary B., Werhahn G.
& Appel A. 2013. Clouded leopard camera-
trapped in the Annapurna Conservation Area,
Nepal. Cat News 58, 25.
Heinen J.T. & Kattel B. 1992. A Review of Conser-
vation Legislation in Nepal: Past Progress and
Future Needs. Environmental Management,
16, 723-733.
Hodgson B. H. 1853. Felis macrosceloides. Pro-
ceedings of the Zoological Society of London,
Vol. 21: Plate XXXVIII.
Jnawali S. R., Baral H. S., Lee S., Acharya K. P.,
Upadhyay G. P., Pandey M., Shrestha R., Joshi
D., Laminchhane B. R., Griffiths J., Khatiwada
A. P., Subedi N. & Amin R. (compilers). 2011.
The Status of Nepal Mammals: The National
Red List Series. Department of National Parks
and Wildlife Conservation, Kathmandu, Nepal.
McDougal C. 1992. Status of the leopard, clouded
leopard and smaller felids in Nepal. Report.
Mehta J. N. & Dhewaju R. G. 1990. A note on the
record of clouded leopards in Nepal. Tigerpa-
per Vol. XVII: No.1 January-March 1990, pp.
21-22.
Pandey B. P. 2012. Clouded leopard in Shivapuri
Nagarjun National Park, Nepal. Cat News 57,
24-25.
Sanderson J., Khan J. A., Grassman L. & Mallon
D. P. 2008. Neofelis nebulosa. In IUCN Red List
of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.
iucnredlist.org> Downloaded on 31 March
2013.
1 Friends of Nature, P. O. Box 23491, Kathmandu,
Nepal *<yghimirey@hotmail.com>
LALTHANPUIA1, SOUMEN DEY2, TRIDIP SHARMA2, PRANJIT SHARMA1, JAYANTA DEKA1,
PRANAB JYOTI BORA1 AND JIMMY BORAH2*
Camera-trap record of felid
species from Kanchanjuri wild-
life corridor, Assam, India
We used camera traps in Kanchanjuri, one of the four wildlife corridors linking Ka-
ziranga National Park and the foothill forest of Karbi Anglong district, to understand
the use of corridors by wildlife and their movement patterns. We obtained photo-
graphs of tiger Panthera tigris, leopard P. pardus (both normal and melanistic morphs)
and Asiatic golden cat Catopuma temminckii. These are the first photographic re-
cords of the use of the Kanchanjuri corridor by these three species of felids. We pre-
sent our findings to emphasise the importance of these corridors and the adjoining
habitats so that they can receive priority for protection and conservation.
The foothills of the Karbi Anglong KA pla-
teau are located at the northernmost part of
the Karbi Anglong district of Assam, India.
The northern foothills of the KA plateau con-
sist of steep and rugged slopes interspersed
with small streams and rivulets. To the north
of these foothills and running along the
southern boundary of the Kaziranga Nation-
al Park KNP is a national highway (NH 37).
The NH 37 thus divides the KNP and the KA
along a continuous stretch of almost 50 km.
The vegetation types are mainly of tropi-
cal evergreen and semi-evergreen forests
as per the classification of Champion and
Seth (1968). The common species include
Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Artocarpus
chaplasha, Mesua ferrea, Dysoxylum spp.
Terminalia chebula, Bauhinia spp., etc.
This foothill area serves as an important
habitat for the wildlife of KNP as the animals
move southward for seasonal migrations
during flooding and the harvesting season of
local paddy crops (WWF-India 2006, unpubl.
report) that act as a food attractant for ani-
mals such as elephants. Except in the case
of elephants, there is not much information
about most of the other animals dispersing
farther south beyond the foothills. The pres-
ence of leopards in these foothill areas was
confirmed in 2011 by using camera traps
following cases of livestock depredation at
the fringe of KNP (WWF-India 2006, unpubl.
report). The increasing human population in
the area has made wildlife vulnerable to the
related developmental activities, and also
has led to the linkages between KNP and
KA hills getting shrunk over the years.
Towards the western end at the conjunc-
tion of KA and KNP, Kanchanjuri is the most
important corridor (Fig. 1) along and across
Fig. 1. Location of Assam in India (pink in map) and of Kanchanjuri corridor (yellow arrow)
between Kaziranga NP (located at origin of green arrow) and Karbi Anglong Foothills.
India
CATnews 60 Spring 2014
29
cats using the Kanchanjuri wildlife corridor, Assam, India
NH 37 that is frequently used by wildlife.
This corridor stretches roughly 6 km along
the highway, but the actual movement of
elusive species such as tigers, leopards and
ungulates occurs within a small, narrow
patch of forest (1.5 km long) which leads to
the foothill forest of Karbi Anglong in the
south. This small patch of forest is bounded
on both the east and west sides by villages,
mostly inhabited by tribes, and interspersed
with tea plantations.
With this background, we set out to docu-
ment the use of the corridor by different ani-
mals and their movement patterns by using
camera traps. We began with a sign survey
within the Kanchanjuri corridor to identify
the trails used by animals on which to set up
camera traps. Three units of passive cam-
era traps (Moultrie, D-40, Moultrie feeders,
Alabama) were deployed at a bifurcation of
the trail – one covering the main trail, and
one 10 m down each of the forks. The cam-
eras were operational round the clock and
were checked every 3 to 4 days to download
photos, check batteries, as well as to ensure
their performance and safety.
In between July 2011 and January 2012 the
total effort amounted to 588 trap days, dur-
ing which we obtained images of 8 different
species of mammals: tiger (Fig. 2), melanis-
tic leopard (Fig. 3), Asiatic golden cat (Fig. 4),
elephant Elephas maximus, leopard cat Pri-
onailurus bengalensis, barking deer Muntia-
cus muntjak, wild pig Sus scrofa and small
Indian civet Viverricula indica. This record of
the golden cat is the first from the area bet-
ween KNP and KA.
An earlier year-long collaborative study (be-
tween February 2010 and March 2011) by
WWF India and Aaranyak (a regional NGO)
on the use of corridors by wildlife between
KNP and KA found sign evidence of tigers
in the corridors, but failed to obtain photo-
graphs (J. Borah pers. comm.). There were
unconfirmed reports on the occurrence of
tigers and leopards in Kanchanjuri from lo-
cal villagers. While the common leopard
has been photographed in the foothill area
of KA, this is the first time that its melanis-
tic form has been photographed anywhere
in the KNP-KA corridors. Within the Indian
sub-continent, the Asiatic golden cat is re-
stricted to the eastern Himalayas, Bangla-
desh and north-east India. There are recent
confirmed records from Bangladesh (Khan
2008), Nepal (Ghimirey & Pal 2009), Bhutan
(Wang 2007, Jigme 2011) and from a few
sites in India: Sikkim (Bashir et al. 2011),
Arunachal Pradesh (Datta et al. 2008, Lyn-
gdoh et al. 2011) and Assam (Chowdhury
2007). The golden cat is still not confirmed
within KNP, but this study confirms its pres-
ence in the adjoining KNP-KA corridor and
KA foothills.
The photographs of three species of felids
from the Kanchanjuri corridor establish its
importance as a vital link for wildlife mov-
ing between KNP and KA. The foothill area
of KA is connected farther south by forest
habitat all the way to Intanki NP in Nagaland
and south-westward towards the forests of
Meghalaya as well. This connectivity through
Karbi Anglong is therefore crucial for animal
dispersal (Jhala et al. 2008). On the northern
side, KNP is connected to Orang and Nameri
NPs through riverine islands (Jhala et al.
2011). There is migration of tigers between
these protected areas through a series of
small islands that extend all along the Brah-
maputra river (Borah et al. 2010).
While the river islands serve as wildlife
movement corridors from KNP to the north
of the Brahmaputra River, on the southern
side of KNP it is the KNP-KA land corridors
that are crucial to the movement and sur-
vival of wildlife. During the annual flooding
season in KNP for example, it is KA that
serves as the high-ground refuge for wild-
life. Large mammals like the elephant, rhino
and tiger are known to use these corridors
during other seasons as well for dispersal
and migration. Thus it is important to realize
that the full set of biodiversity values of KNP
may not survive without the proper conser-
vation and protection of its neighbouring KA
forest complex (WWF-India 2006, unpubl.
report).
The photographic evidence of corridor use
by wildlife, including the three felid species
and other large mammals from this study,
highlights the conservation value of corri-
dors. We hope that our findings will convince
decision makers and stakeholders to accord
higher priority for the conservation of func-
tional corridors like Kanchanjuri. The protec-
tion of these areas should be strengthened
immediately, so that these wildlife corridors
survive to maintain long-term viable popu-
lations in these fragmented but connected
forests. We also recommend that all rel-
evant stakeholders, including the Forest De-
partment of Assam and the Karbi Anglong
Autonomous District Council, should work
together to remove disturbances from these
corridors, increase protection and draw up
a strategic management plan for the entire
landscape with corridors as critical compo-
nents of the habitat for wildlife.
Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the staff of both Ka-
ziranga and Karbi Anglong Forest Departments
for their immense support during fieldwork. We
Fig. 2. Tiger photo-captured by camera
trap in the Kanchanjuri corridor.
Fig. 3. Leopard (melanistic form) photo-
captured by camera trap in the Kanchan-
juri corridor.
Fig. 4. Asiatic golden cat photo-captured
by camera trap in the Kanchanjuri corridor.
CATnews 60 Spring 2014
30
Lalthanpuia et al.
thank all the officials of WWF-India Secretariat,
New Delhi for their support. We thank Dr. Anupam
Sarmah, Head - Assam Landscape, WWF-India for
his guidance and support. We also thank our col-
leagues in Assam Landscape, WWF-India for their
support and best wishes. We would like to express
our sincere gratitude to the villagers and field as-
sistants for their support and dedication in their
work and their constant vigilance of the camera
traps. We acknowledge WWF Sweden for provid-
ing funds to carry out the camera-trap study in the
corridor. Thanks go to the anonymous reviewers
for their valuable comments towards improving
the manuscript.
References
Bashir T., Bhattacharya T., Poudyal K. & Sathya-
kumar S. 2011. Notable observations on the
melanistic Asiatic Golden cat (Pardofelis tem-
minckii) of Sikkim, India. NeBIO. Vol. 2(1).
Borah J., Ahmed M. F. & Sarma P. K. 2010. Brah-
maputra island as potential corridors for
dispersing tigers: A case study from Assam,
India. International Journal of Biodiversity &
Conservation 2, 350-358.
Champion H. G. & Seth S. K. 1968. A Revised
Survey of Forest Types of India. Govt. of India,
New Delhi.
Choudhury A. 2007. Sighting of Asiatic golden cat
in the grasslands of Assam›s Manas National
Park. Cat News 47, 27-29.
Datta A., Anand M. O. & Naniwadekar R. 2008.
Empty forests: Large carnivore and prey abun-
dance in Namdapha National Park, north-east
India. Biological Conservation 141, 1429-
1435.
Ghimirey Y. & Pal P. 2009. First camera-trap im-
age of Asiatic golden cat in Nepal. Cat News
51, 19.
Khan M. M. H. 2008. The neglected Asiatic gold-
en cats of Bangladesh. Cat News 48, 20-21
Jhala Y. V., Gopal R. & Qureshi Q. 2008. Status of
tigers, co-predators and prey in India, 2008.
National Tiger Conservation Authority, Govt.
of India, New Delhi, and Wildlife Institute of
India, Dehradun, India. TR 08/001, 164 pp.
Jhala Y. V., Qureshi Q., Gopal R. & Sinha P. R.(Eds)
2011. Status of tigers, co-predators and prey
in India, 2010. National Tiger Conservation
Authority, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and
Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India.
TR 2011/003, 302 pp.
Jigme K. 2011. Four colour morphs of and the al-
titudinal record for the Asiatic golden cat in
Bhutan. Cat News 55,12-13.
Lyngdoh S., Selvan K. M., Gopi G. V. & Habib
B. 2011. First photographic evidence of two
rare cats from Pakke tiger reserve, western
Arunachal Pradesh. Current Science 101,
1284-1286.
Wang S. W. 2007. A rare morph of the Asiatic
golden cat in Bhutan’s Jigme Singye Wang-
chuk National Park. Cat News 47, 27-28.
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1 WWF-India, Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong Land-
scape Programme. Kohora, Assam. India
2 WWF-India, North Bank Landscape Pro-
gramme, Tezpur, Assam, India
*<jimmyborah@gmail.com>
SANJAY GUBBI1,2*, POORNESHA H. C2, ANNAPOORNA DAITHOTA2 AND HARISH
NAGASHETTIHALLI2
Roads emerging as a critical
threat to leopards in India?
Leopards Panthera pardus face severe threat from poaching, loss of habitat and kill-
ing in retaliation to conflict. However, in India a new threat appears to be emerg-
ing in the form of vehicle accident mortalities. In the past 60 months 23 leopards
have been recorded as killed due to road accidents in the southern Indian state of
Karnataka alone. When roads overlap with important wildlife habitats, considerable
scrutiny and critical conservation planning is urgently required.
Leopards are one of the widely distributed
wild cats in the world with nine subspecies
found in varied habitats across its entire
range. Loss of habitat, poaching and retalia-
tory killing are recognized as the key threats
to leopards in its entire range. The species
is currently categorized as Near Threatened
on the IUCN Red List with some subspecies
identified as Critically Endangered (Henschel
et al. 2008, IUCN 2013).
India hosts substantial leopard numbers
though there are no nationwide estimates
available. In India, leopards survive in pro-
tected areas (PAs), multiple use forests (le-
gally termed as reserved forests) and even
in highly human dominated landscapes. The
threats within India are similar as in other
parts of the leopards’ range.
India’s phenomenal economic growth (~8%)
over the last two decades was based on an
expansion of physical infrastructure such as
roads, railway, power and communication
networks for improved commerce. Roads,
some of which pass through ecologically
important sites, constitute a threat resulting
not only in habitat fragmentation but also
in direct mortalities of wildlife due to colli-
sions with vehicles. In India, the challenge
comes primarily from the conversion of exist-
ing small roads with low-volume traffic into
high-speed highways, while a few new roads
also opening up remote locations (Gubbi et
al. 2012). In addition, there has been a rapid
growth of motor vehicles at 10.5% during
2002-2012 (MoSRTH 2012).
In the recent years leopard mortalities due
to vehicular collision seems to be increas-
ing. In the southern Indian state of Karnataka
(191,976 km2) alone, from secondary sources
(newspaper reports and forest department
records), we recorded a total of 23 leopards
killed in road accidents (two more were killed
by trains) during the period July 2009 – June
2014 (Fig. 1, Supporting Online Material
Table T1) amounting to one leopard roadkill
every three months. Of these, 19 leopards
have died in locations outside PAs (Fig. 2)
highlighting the threat of vehicular traffic to
leopards outside PAs.
In addition to the loss of these big cats, prin-
cipal prey species for leopards in India, Axis
deer Axis axis, sambar Rusa unicolor, black-
naped hare Lepus nigricollis, bonnet macaque
Macaca radiata and langur Seminopithecus
spp. are some of the commonly killed species
in vehicle collisions (Prakash 2012).
In India, the National Wildlife Action Plan
(2002-2016) specifically prescribes regulation
and mitigation measures for threats posed by
