IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| de Alwis, W.L.E. | |
| Status of southeast Asia's small cats | |
| Conference Proceeding | |
The welfare of the small cats of S.E. Asia has been neglected all too long. Perhaps because of their small size, secretive habits and vicious disposition, they have not been popular animals. They have not lent themselves to close observation either, but have made their presence felt when they menaced domestic stock. Even though very little is known about these cats it is a pity that not many zoologists or ecologists are yet studying this important group of animals. There is, in addition, a dangerous complacency about the future of these animals, many people still tend to endow them with strange powers of super-natural survival. But it is a fact that they are among the worst off when it comes to a question of survival, especially with forests cleared and their habitat diminished. They attempt to survive by preying on livestock in the absence of their natural food, but they pay the extreme penalty, very often having been mistaken for young panther (_Panthera pardus_) or even tiger (_Panthera tigris_). This paper is a plea for positive steps to be taken towards the conservation of these cats, based on the writer's experience with the three species found in Ceylon. |
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