Fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus is an elusive and poorly known small cat species of the world, which is threatened due to various levels of anthropogenic pressures. The mangroves and surrounding habitats of the Godavari Delta are an important conservation area, which supports a viable fishing cat population. Herewith, we describe a direct observation of an aggressive inter-sexual interaction of fishing cat and we believe that this observation will add to the knowledge of its behaviour in the wild.

Camera trapping was undertaken during 2017 to study tiger dispersal and its prey in the Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve BTR. This exercise revealed the presence of fishing cat, Prionailurus viverrinus in the Kallwah range of the reserve. This is the first photographicrecord of this species in the central Indian landscape.

Although melanistic leopards Panthera pardus have been frequently observed in parts of South Asia and occasionally in India, no such records exist for Odisha. During cameratrap surveys of large carnivores in Sundargarh Forest Division, Odisha, India, we obtained photographs of melanistic leopards between January 2018 and April 2018. These are the first confirmed records of melanistic leopard in Odisha, eastern India.

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Figure F1

Information about the distribution, ecology and behaviour of Sri Lanka’s three small wild felid species’ is scant which has resulted in uncertainty regarding their status. Here we present camera trap data from seven study sites representing three distinct habitat types around the island. Study sites range from the island’s largest Protected Area (Wilpattu NP) to small patch forests on private land. We document the wide distribution of the rusty-spotted cat Prionailurus rubiginosus and fishing cat Prionailurus viverrinus which were both recorded in five sites and all climatic zones, with rusty spotted cat more frequently photo-captured. The jungle cat Felis chaus was found in only two sites which are in close proximity to each other, representing the eastern lowland dry zone. Fishing cat and jungle cat records from this research expand the understood range of these species according to current IUCN Red List maps. All fish-ing cat events and 88.9% of rusty-spotted cat events were nocturnal (19:00 h– 06:00 h). Rusty-spotted cats with rusty markings as well as those with darker markings were both found in the lowland dry zone, complicating the proposed delineation of the speciesinto a wet zone sub-species and dry lowland sub-species based on colour patternvariation. This research provides much-needed distribution and behaviour data for Sri Lanka’s poorly understood small wild felids. A much improved understanding of how these small felids co-exist within shared Sri Lankan landscapes, both with each other and with the dominant leopard Panthera pardus, is necessary for more effective long term management and conservation.

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Figures F1a, b and F2

Clouded leopard Neofelis nebulosa was pictured during a camera trap study in Sikles-Bhujung landscape in lower Annapurna Conservation Area from January–March 2017. Two other species of felids common leopard Panthera pardus and leopard cat Prionailurus bengalensis were found to be coexisting with clouded leopard. Human disturbance in the study area is high during herding season (May–August). The clouded leopard is vulnerable to anthropogenic threats including hunting, livestock encroachment and hydropower development.

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Figure F1 and Table T1 & T2

The Eurasian lynx Lynx lynx is poorly studied in most of Asia and almost nothing is known about its status in Nepal. We present new data on lynx in Nepal collected during 2014 to 2017 based on non-invasive genetic sampling, camera trap survey, live observation and local report from the districts of Dolpa, Mustang and Humla. We combined this data with available past records of Eurasian lynx in Nepal. We found only 16 records from 1967 to 2017 (12 from this study of which 11 are from 2014–2017) which suggests that the species is sparsely distributed and little studied in Nepal. We believe that snow leopard Panthera uncia focused conservation activities have shadowed the importance of Eurasian lynx conservation in the country. The presence of lynx in the Nepalese Himalayas has a potential to contribute to human-carnivore conflicts. We identified the need for a baseline study of human-lynx conflict in connectionto livestock depredation. The government of Nepal may need to amend the wildlife damage relief guidelines and include the Eurasian lynx as eligible for depredationcompensation. More in-depth studies of the species are required in the Nepalese Himalayas which shall facilitate a systematic monitoring of this elusive cat along with other high altitude carnivores.

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Table T1

During a camera trapping survey to assess the population of Persian leopard Panthera pardus saxicolor in Bamu National Park BNP, a caracal Caracal caracal was captured by camera trap for the first time. This is the first confirmed report of the caracal from Bamu. The closest locality where the species is known to occur is almost 60 km (aerial distance) away, the south-east of Bakhtegan National Park.

Pallas’s cats Otocolobus manul are globally threatened by human-generated habitat degradation and fragmentation and poaching, as well as depletion of their prey base. Vehicle accident mortalities of the Pallas’s cat are not a common phenomenon, and we are not aware of any documented cases. Here we report the observation of a road-killed Pallas’s cat in a protected area in northern Semnan Province, Iran.

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Figures F1 & F2 and Table T1

We report here Caracal caracal in the Ouarsenis Mountains in Northwest Algeria, thirty years after the previous record. One specimen was observed and photographed in a pine forest in Lazharia and a second one was captured by accident in Larjam district, both in Tissemessilt governorate, in north-western Algeria.

Both leopard Panthera pardus pardus and African golden cat Caracal aurata occur throughout the Congo Basin and coastal forests of Central Africa. However, there remains a paucity of documented occurrences of these species within the region. Here, we document both species in the Dja Faunal Reserve DFR, Cameroon from images captured in a camera trap survey. This represents the first confirmed occurrenceof leopard for 18 years and the first documentation of African golden cat within the reserve.

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Figure F1

A female cheetah Acinonyx jubatus captured on ranchland in 2014 was ‘hard re-leased’ after ~3 months of ex situ boma-confinement, into Pilanesberg National Park PNP which simultaneously was colonised by two males. The female was monitored via satellite telemetry for a period of ~10 months, and interventions took place during this period to ensure maximum survival (i.e. integrated burning, lion Panthera leo management). The female bred successfully within the first year of release, and has since had three successful litters (~58.3 ± 29% survival rate), with the first two litters, having 75% survival rate, and independence reached after ~16 months. Post-release movements were similar across all months, and there was no indication to home back. Regular monitoring, along with concurrent management interventions has led to successful resurgence of the cheetah population in PNP. Three and a half years after the reintroduction of the female cheetah, the cheetah population had increased to 13 individuals. Given the proximity of the capture site, and period of confinement near the capture site, this release has been a success, and it should be a cost-effectivepractice for any releases that are contemplated in a similar geographical area (<100 km, or intra-cluster).

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Figures F1 & F2

Photographic evidence of a disabled jaguar Panthera onca in Baritú National Park BNP, Salta province, Argentina, is reported. This is an important event because there are few reports of wild jaguars with this condition.

In northeast Mexico the occurrence of the jaguar Panthera onca, ocelot Leopardus pardalis and jaguarundi Herpailurus yagouaroundi is not well known. Because of lack of confirmed reports, no recent publications mention the Sierra of San Carlos within the actual range of these felines. Here, we provide a series of photographs taken with a remote sensing camera of these three species at the Rancho Sílica that is located in the northern part of the Sierra of San Carlos in Tamaulipas, Mexico. We believe that these distribution records will improve the knowledge about the range of these species and therefore could lead to better conservation actions. We hope that the Sierra of San Carlos will be included within the Mexican protected area system in the future.

For more than 20 years, there was no real evidence of jaguar Panthera onca occurrence in Atlantic Forest areas in the south region of Bahia state, Brazil. The species was rediscovered during a fauna monitoring study carried out at Reserva Particular do Patrimônio Natural RPPN Estação Veracel, which is a huge remnant of native vegetation surrounded by Eucalyptus spp. plantations, croplands and rural settlements. There were three jaguar records, all of them obtained on trails located inside the private conservation unit. The species was first recorded in May 2017, through a sequence of photos captured by a camera trap and subsequently by a footprint.Six months later, new images of the jaguar were taken by the Centro Nacional de Pesquisa e Conservação de Mamíferos Carnívoros CENAP team in a research designedto monitor the jaguar.  

In the Atlantic Forest the jaguar Panthera onca is critically endangered, occupying only a small fraction of its original range. Due to the great threat to the persistence of the jaguar, any record at a new site represents an important step to increase its conservation probabilities. Here I report the presence of jaguar in Rio Guarani State Park RGP, where recently the presence of the species was not reported. Although this site may be too small to support a jaguar population, the presence of a rich prey assemblage and possible connection to Iguaçu National Park INP (about 60 km of distance) represent a possibility to maintain a metapopulation between these parks. Additionally, this record is also important, because the site is localised in a pro-posed corridor to connect jaguar conservation units. This jaguar record highlights the real possibility to connect jaguar populations in the Atlantic Forest and the need for landscape management and protection measures.

Although polymorphic phenotypes are common in wild felids, leucism is a rather rare characteristic and consists in the general cleaning of the animal's coat, assigning a white colouration pattern. This characteristic is genetically controlled, with recessiveinheritance. We present the first record ever of leucism in pumas Puma concolor recorded in wild populations, from Serra dos Órgãos National Park, Atlantic Forest of southeastern Brazil. This record was documented with a great sampling effort, with camera traps from 2010 to 2016, being registered only in two of the twenty-four samplingstations in 2013. The record of this rare phenotype will be the baseline for later studies on the genetic basis of leucism and the adaptive relevance of this phenotypic characteristic in wild cat populations.