Two kittens of the world's smallest cat species named rusty spotted cat were reunited with their mother near Koregaon Tehsil in Satara district by the state forest department on Sunday.
Sugarcane workers discovered three kittens of the extremely rare Rusty Spotted Cat on a farm in Surli Village in Tehsil.
Promptly alerting the Koregaon Forest Department, a rescue operation was carried out by officials from the Forest Department and Rescue Charitable Trust in Pune.
After confirming the species, they were temporarily taken into custody, and efforts were made to return them to their mother. They were placed in a small plastic box at the discovery spot, monitored by cameras. To everyone's satisfaction, the mother retrieved them, marking the success of the conservation effort.
On this occasion, under the guidance of Aditi Bhardwaj, SDeputy Conservator of Forest, Satara, Assistant Conservator of Forests, Mahesh Zanjurne, Koregaon Range Forest Officer Vaibhav Gharge and Shreyas Kamble and Nachiket Awadhani of Rescue Charitable Trust from Pune were present.
World's smallest cat
Listed as 'near threatened' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Rusty Spotted Cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) holds the distinction of being the world's smallest cat. This elusive species, found exclusively in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, lacks precise population estimates. Thriving in dense vegetation and rocky areas, Rusty Spotted Cats face significant population decline attributed to habitat alterations, road accidents, and potential hybridization with domestic cats. Conservation efforts are imperative to mitigate these threats and ensure the continued survival of this diminutive and vulnerable feline species.
