First photographic evidence of the Asiatic Golden Cat Catopuma temminckii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhutan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.5089.12.2.15262-15266Keywords:
Camera trap, distribution, Merak, morphs, small wild cats, threatsAbstract
The Asiatic Golden Cat Catopuma temminckii is among Asia’s least studied wild felids. We report the first photographic evidence of its presence in Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, eastern Bhutan, where it was recorded above 3,000m. The photographs show three distinct colour morphs, viz., golden, buff brown, and melanistic. The main threat to the species in the sanctuary appears to be habitat loss due to increasing developmental activities and land use change. Future studies are needed to determine the conservation status of Asiatic Golden Cats in Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary.
References
Bashir, T., T. Bhattacharya, K. Poudyal & S. Sathyakumar (2011). Notable observations on the melanistc Asiatic Golden Cat (Pardofelis temminckii) of Sikkim, India. NeBIO 2(1): 1–4.
Chakraborty, P., L. Hanpuia, T. Sharma, R. Chakraborty & T. Tapi (2013). First record of grey morph of Asiatic Golden Cat in Pakke Tiger Reserve, India. Cat News 59: 13.
Chatterjee, P., K. Mondal, K. Chandra & B. Tripathy (2018). First photographic evidence of Asian Golden Cat Catopuma temminckii (Vigors & Horsfield, 1827) from Neora Valley National Park, central Himalayas, India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 118(2): 128–132. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v118/i2/2018/121437
Dhendup, T. (2016). Status of Asiatic Golden Cat Catopuma temminckii Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 (Carnivora: Felidae) in Bhutan. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(4): 8698–8702. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2560.8.4.8698-8702
Dhendup, T. & R. Dorji (2018). Occurrence of six felid species outside protected areas in Bhutan. Cat News 67: 37–39.
Dhendup, T., T. Tempa & N. Norbu (2016). Camera trap records of Asiatic Golden Cat at high altitudes in Bhutan. Cat News 64: 37–38.
Ghimirey, Y. & P. Pal (2009). First camera trap image of Asiatic Golden Cat in Nepal. Cat News 51: 19.
Gumal, M., A.B.M. Salleh, M.N. Yasak, L.S. Horng, B.P.Y. Lee, L.C. Pheng, H. Hamzah, D. Kong, D. Magintan, D.T.C. Yung, A.Z.B. Zalaluddin, A.B. Azmi, N.B. Khalid, T.P. Yen, V. Mufeng, F.C.F. Meng & S. Ng (2014). Small-medium wild cats of Endau Rompin Landscape in Johor, peninsular Malaysia. Cat News Special Issue 8: 10–18.
Gyeltshen, K. (2010). Habitat analysis for Red Panda (Ailurus fulgens) in Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary in Trashigang, Bhutan. Doctoral dissertation, University of Salzburg, Austria, 73pp.
Gouda, J., J. Sethy & N. Chauhan (2016). First photo capture of Asiatic Golden Cat in Dampa Tiger Reserve, Mizoram, India. Cat News 64: 26–27.
Jigme, K. (2011). Four colour morphs of and the altitudinal record for the Asiatic Golden Cat in Bhutan. Cat News 55: 12–13.
Lyngdoh, S., M.K. Selvan, V.G. Gopi, B. Habib & M. Hazarika (2011). Sighting and first photograph of Asiatic Golden Cat in western Arunachal Pradesh. Cat News: 17–18.
McCarthy, J., S. Dahal, T. Dhendup, T.N.E. Gray, S. Mukherjee, H., Rahman, P. Riordan, N. Boontua & D. Willcox (2015). Catopuma temminckii. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: e.T4038A97165437. Accessed on 07 November 2019. https://doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2015-4.RLTS.T4038A50651004.en
Mukherjee, S., P. Singh, A.P. Silva, C. Ri, K. Kakati, B. Borah, T. Tapi, S. Kadur, P. Choudhary, S. Srikant, S. Nadig, R. Navya, M. Björklund & U. Ramakrishnan (2019). Activity patterns of the small and medium felid (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) guild in northeastern India. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(4): 13432–13447. https://doi.org/10.11609/jot.4662.11.4.13432-13447
Nijhawan, S., I. Mitapo, J. Pulu, C. Carbone & J.M. Rowcliffe (2019). Does polymorphism make the Asiatic Golden Cat the most adaptable predator in the Eastern Himalayas? Ecology 100(10): e02768. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2768
SWS (2016). Conservation Management Plan (2017–2027), Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary, Department of Forests & Park Services, Royal Government of Bhutan, Trashigang, 127pp.
Than Zaw, T. Myint, S. Htun, S.H.T. Po, K.T. Lat, M. Maung & A.J. Lynam (2014). Status and distribution of smaller cats in Myanmar. Cat News Special Issue 8: 24–30.
Vernes, K., T. Sangay, R. Rajaratnam & R. Singye (2015). Social interaction and co-occurrence of colour morphs of the Asiatic Golden Cat, Bhutan. Cat News 62: 18–20.
Wang, S.W. (2007). A rare morph of the Asiatic Golden Cat in Bhutan’s Jigme Singye Wangchuck National Park. Cat News 47: 27–28.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Authors own the copyright to the articles published in JoTT. This is indicated explicitly in each publication. The authors grant permission to the publisher Wildlife Information Liaison Development (WILD) Society to publish the article in the Journal of Threatened Taxa. The authors recognize WILD as the original publisher, and to sell hard copies of the Journal and article to any buyer. JoTT is registered under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY), which allows authors to retain copyright ownership. Under this license the authors allow anyone to download, cite, use the data, modify, reprint, copy and distribute provided the authors and source of publication are credited through appropriate citations (e.g., Son et al. (2016). Bats (Mammalia: Chiroptera) of the southeastern Truong Son Mountains, Quang Ngai Province, Vietnam. Journal of Threatened Taxa 8(7): 8953–8969. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2785.8.7.8953-8969). Users of the data do not require specific permission from the authors or the publisher.
