First photographic evidence recorded in Arunachal Pradesh of rare Pallas’s cat

A wildlife survey conducted in Arunachal Pradesh has recorded the first-ever photographic evidence of the rare Pallas’s cat in the state.

The survey, conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature India in association with the state forest department, also recorded the presence of five other wild cats – snow leopard, common leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat and marbled cat – at more than 4,200 metres above sea level.

The Pallas’s cat being spotted in Arunachal Pradesh has significantly extended the known distribution of the species in the eastern Himalaya, adding to earlier confirmed records from Sikkim, Bhutan and eastern Nepal.

“Globally listed as Least Concern on the IUCN [International Union for Conservation of Nature] Red List, this cold-adapted wild cat is one of the most elusive, rarely photographed and therefore remains one of the least studied feline species,” the release added.

As part of it, WWF-India deployed 136 camera traps in 83 locations across 2,000 km of rugged high-altitude rangelands in the state’s West Kameng and Tawang districts between July 2024 and September 2024. The camera traps were kept active for more than eight months.

The Pallas’s cat was spotted at a slightly lower height than the absolute global maximum of 5,050 metres above sea level, according to a press release...

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