Rusty-spotted cat - Prionailurus rubiginosus
© Josie Shadwell
Not much is known about these tiny predators, but they are believed to have a short, soft fawn-gray coat with a reddish tinge. A pattern of crossing lines form solid rusty brown stripes along the back of the head. Faint dark rings are present on the tail, which averages about 50% of the head and body length.
They are apparently nocturnal, climb well, and in the wild are frequently observed in trees. The diet of the rusty-spotted cat hasn't been properly documented although it has been reported to eat small mammals and birds. After a heavy rain they have been observed to eat frogs. They are known to prey on domestic poultry.
In Sri Lanka, the rusty spotted cat is rarely seen far from jungles, yet also seems to be comfortable in high areas around 7,000 feet in the forest of the Horton Plains or the Hambantota coastline. In India, its habitat is described as grassland, scrub and forest. However, while its presence has been confirmed in the tropical dry Gir forest, it doesn't appear to live in the more closed forest types.
Perhaps these seeming inconsistencies can be explained in terms of competition with other cats or ecological separation. The closely related leopard cat is found throughout much of India, but is absent from Sri Lanka. It is possible that the rusty-spotted cat is the more common of the two species in the drier, more open vegetation type of India, while the leopard cat predominates in the moist forests. This would explain the concentration of rusty-spotted cat records in southern India, and the infrequent and seemingly isolated reports from more northern regions. In Sri Lanka, on the other hand, the leopard cat is absent but the jungle cat occurs, and is typically found in more open habitats-grass, scrub, and open forest.
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