IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group Library

IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library

View printer friendly
Sahu, Y.K.; Bhattacharjee, S.; Kidwai, Z.; Sharma, S.; Shaktawat, D.S.; Khandal, D.
Report of melanistic jungle cats from Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India
2017 Cat News (65): 33-34
The jungle cat _Felis chaus_ is a habitat generalist and a quite commonly found wild cat on the Indian subcontinent. Earlier studies from South-east Asia and the Indian subcontinent reported melanism in wild felids such as in leopards _Panthera pardus_, Asiatic golden cats_ Catopuma temminckii_, leopard cats _Prionailurus bengalensis_ etc. A recently conducted camera trapping exercise confirmed the presence of a few melanistic jungle cats from the semi-arid dry deciduous forests of Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve RTR in the state of Rajasthan, north-western India. This is the first photographic report of the melanistic form of the jungle cat from this part of the world.
	PDF files are only accessible to Friends of the Cat Group. Joining Friends of the Cat Group gives you unlimited access and downloads in the Cat SG Library for one year, and allows you to receive our newsletter Cat News (2 regular issues per year plus special issues). More information how to join here