Elusive ‘marbled' creature caught on trail cam in India for first time. See it
The moist forest receives rain for nearly a third of the year, totaling more than 125 inches over the course of 12 months and contributing to the lush vegetation.
Now, an elusive species has been photographed in the reserve for the very first time.
As part of a small mammal monitoring program, researchers installed eight infrared cameras along animal trails and natural paths in the summer of 2024, according to a study published July 26 in the peer-reviewed Journal of Threatened Taxa.
'Locations were selected based on indirect signs of animal presence, such as tracks and scat,' researchers said. 'The camera traps were configured for high sensitivity, with a delay of one second between photographs.'
The cameras were operational for a period of 28 days between July and August, and when researchers looked through the images collected at the end of the month, two stuck out from the rest.
On July 13 and July 16, a marbled cat was caught by the camera lens, according to the study.
Researchers said the second image was blurred because the animal was moving, making it impossible to distinguish whether the images represent two different marbled cats or the same animal on two different days, according to the study.
Both images show the animal turned away from the camera, their marbled coat leading to a long, fluffy tail.
The two images were taken from cameras about 5,000 feet apart, according to the study, and near both a perennial stream and the forest's edge.
Researchers questioned 18 local residents to see what they knew about marbled cats in the area, according to the study. The group, made of mostly farmers and herders who use the forest for their livestock or for gathering firewood, said they had seen the marbled cats in their area in the past.
'Thirteen respondents said they had never harmed or killed a marbled cat. Five others mentioned that when marbled cats came near their poultry coops, they sometimes used catapults to scare them away, but made it clear they never intended to kill them,' researchers said. 'They also emphasized that they neither eat wild cat meat nor sell any parts of wild animals.'
Marbled cats, known locally as 'Godhafutuki' or by their scientific name Pardofelis marmorata, are an elusive and rare species and considered 'near threatened' across their natural habitat in Southeast Asia.
They can be found in high-elevation forests in eastern India, Nepal, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List.
Marbled cat hides have been found with tribal hunters in other regions of India, researchers said, but the farmers and herders questioned about the recent sightings said poaching and ritualistic hunting haven't been taking place around Kakoi Reserve Forest, according to the study.
Not much is known about the lives of the small predators, according to the Felidae Conservation Fund, but they are thought to be nocturnal and spend much of their time in trees. They are carnivorous and hunt birds, small mammals and possibly lizards or frogs.
Kakoi Reserve Forest is in the Assam region of India, along its northeastern border with Bhutan and China.
The research team includes Hiranmoy Chetia, Abhijit Konwar and Anshuman Gogoi.
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