Environment News

Status of small cats in tiger landscapes

August 4 , 2025 17 hrs 0 min 61 0

The status of small cats in tiger landscapes of India was released by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change on 29 July 2025, Global Tiger Day.
Small cats are important for ecosystems but are often neglected in conservation planning.
The report is based on camera trap data from the All-India Tiger Estimations of 2018 and 2022.
Jungle cat is the most widespread species, occupying 96,275 km² across varied habitats.
Rusty-spotted cat occupies 70,075 km², mostly in mixed deciduous forests.
The leopard cat is found in 32,800 km², mainly in moist forests of the Himalayas, Northeast, Sundarbans, Western Ghats and Similipal.
The desert cat is limited to 12,500 km² in semi-arid and dry deciduous forests of western and central India.
The fishing cat occupies 7,575 km², closely tied to the wetlands in the Terai, Northeast and mangroves.
The clouded leopard is found in 3,250 km², restricted to the dense forests of the Northeast India.
The marbled cat occupies 2,325 km² in Northeast dense forests.
The Asiatic golden cat has a range of 1,850 km² limited to the forests of Northeast India.