Source: Live Science
A Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul), one of the world’s least-studied wild felines, has been photographed for the first time in Arunachal Pradesh, India’s eastern Himalayas. The elusive species, known for its fluffy coat and distinctive expression, was captured on a camera trap at an altitude of 16,400 feet (4,992 meters). This marks a major range expansion, as Pallas’s cats were previously documented in Sikkim, Bhutan, and eastern Nepal but never in Arunachal Pradesh.
The discovery came during a large-scale wildlife survey conducted by WWF India and the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department between July and September 2024. Researchers deployed 136 camera traps across 83 high-altitude sites spanning 770 square miles (2,000 square kilometers), enduring harsh conditions for over eight months. The finding underscores the region’s ecological richness, which already supports snow leopards, clouded leopards, and marbled cats. Conservationists say it highlights how much remains undiscovered in the fragile high Himalayan ecosystems.