Pallas's Cat in Bhutan

Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul), called the manul in much of its range, is a small wild cat of high-altitude steppe and rocky grassland. Globally it is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2020 assessment) on the basis of a wide distribution across Central Asia, but populations are patchy and the species is ranked as Near Threatened or Endangered in several individual range states.^[1]

Bhutan was added as a confirmed range state for the species in 2012, when camera traps placed during a snow leopard occupancy survey in Wangchuck Centennial National Park photographed Pallas's cats on four separate occasions between January and April that year. A separate single record from Jigme Dorji National Park followed in the same year, marking the first photographic evidence of the species in the eastern Himalaya.^[2][3]

Records since 2012 have remained sparse. A 2018 follow-up survey in the Soe range of Jigme Dorji National Park failed to re-detect the species across 32 km² of camera-trap effort, although park staff reported continued sightings by livestock herders in adjacent valleys. Bhutan-specific knowledge of the species is therefore drawn from a small handful of confirmed photographs and informal observations rather than systematic occupancy data.^[3][4]

Description

Pallas's cat is roughly the size of a domestic cat, weighing 2.5 to 4.5 kg, but its dense, long winter pelage and short legs give the impression of a much larger and rounder animal. The fur is silvery-grey with darker stripes on the flanks and faint ring markings on the tail, and the face carries distinctive dark cheek bars. The pupils are circular rather than slit, an unusual feature among small cats. The low-slung ears and flattened forehead are adaptations for stalking prey across open ground without breaking the silhouette.^[1][5]

Habitat and elevation in Bhutan

The Bhutanese records all come from open alpine country between roughly 3,500 and 5,000 metres in the northern dzongkhags. The species selects rocky slopes, scree, alpine meadow and montane steppe, often near rodent colonies and seldom far from cover. In Wangchuck Centennial National Park the camera-trap records came from areas dominated by dwarf rhododendron and grass, while the Jigme Dorji record came from a similar high-altitude ecotone in the Soe gewog.^[2][3]

Bhutan represents the southern margin of the species' Asian range, and connectivity into Tibet across the high passes appears to be the most plausible source of the country's small population. The cat's preference for rocky cover and avoidance of dense forest means much of its potential Bhutanese habitat lies above the tree line in the country's protected high-altitude landscape.^[1][4]

Diet and behaviour

The species is a specialist hunter of small mammals, principally pikas and voles, with birds and ground-nesting passerines taken when available. Pallas's cats are ambush predators that stalk through low vegetation and rocks rather than running down prey across open ground, and they shelter in burrows abandoned by marmots, foxes and other animals. The species is largely solitary outside the breeding season, with kittens born in spring after a gestation of about 70 days.^[1][5]

Threats

The principal threats identified across the species' range are habitat loss to overgrazing and agriculture, secondary poisoning during rodent-control campaigns aimed at pikas, and incidental killing by free-ranging dogs around herder settlements. In Bhutan the most likely pressures are dog predation on cubs and disturbance from increased human movement into high-altitude valleys, although the absence of systematic monitoring means impacts have not been quantified. Illegal trapping for the fur and traditional-medicine trade is documented elsewhere in the species' range but has not been confirmed in Bhutan.^[1][4]

Research and conservation

The 2012 photographs were captured during a national snow leopard survey conducted by the Department of Forests and Park Services with technical support from WWF Bhutan. The Pallas's Cat International Conservation Alliance (PICA), a partnership of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, Nordens Ark, Snow Leopard Trust and Fondation Segré, has identified the eastern Himalaya as a priority gap region and has supported subsequent fieldwork in Bhutan, India and Nepal aimed at establishing baseline distribution data. The species is included in the broader Bhutan Snow Leopard Conservation Action Plan as a flagship of high-altitude biodiversity.^[4][6]

Coverage in Bhutan-based media of Pallas's cat records has been limited, and most published material on the species' Bhutanese status comes from academic journals and international NGO reports rather than the national press.

References

1. Otocolobus manul — IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (2020)
2. "Prehistoric Stealth Cat" Photographed for First Time in Bhutan — WWF
3. First photographic evidence of Pallas's cat in Jigme Dorji National Park, Bhutan — Manul Working Group
4. Assessing the conservation status of Pallas's cats in Bhutan — Manul Working Group
5. Living Species: Pallas's Cat — IUCN Cat Specialist Group
6. About PICA — Pallas's Cat International Conservation Alliance