Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus)

About Rusty-spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus)

• It is widely recognised as the world’s smallest wild cat species.
• Scientific name: Its scientific name is Prionailurus rubiginosus. 
• Habitat: It inhabits moist and dry forests, tropical thorn forests, scrub forests, grasslands and rocky areas.
• Distribution: It is native to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.
• Characteristics:
  • Appearance:
    • Its coat is short and soft.  It is fawn-grey coloured with a rufous tinge and is patterned.
    • There are horizontal bars on the legs and chest.
    • Its head is rounded, and the relatively large eyes are marked with a white streak along the inside edge.
    • Each cheek is marked with two dark streaks and four dark stripes extend from above the eyes backward over the head to the neck.
    • The back and sides are marked with red-brown blotches which merge into lines.
    • The belly, chest and throat are white and covered with large dark spots and bars.
    • The ears are rounded and small.
    • Its tail is about half the length of the head and body, more rufous than the body and faintly marked with dark rings.  The soles of the feet are black. 
    • Size: It is roughly half the size of a domestic cat, measuring just 38-45 cm in body length.
    • Weight: It weights between 1 and 2 kg.
  • Diet: It is a carnivore that mainly feeds on rodents and birds. It also eats frogs, insects, and lizards.
  • Behaviour: It is primarily noctural and extremely shy. It is also a secretive hunter. 
• Threat: Habitat loss and fragmentation are the primary threats to the rusty-spotted cat.
• Conservation status: 
  • IUCN: It is listed as Near Threatened. 
  • CITES: It is listed under Appendix I.