- Currently considered near threatened on the IUCN Red List, the little-known marbled cat may at greater risk from habitat disturbance than previously thought, a new study says.
- The study authors recommend escalating the species’ conservation status to the threatened category of vulnerable.
- Their findings are based on review of camera-trap data from across the species’ range, which found the small cat is an interior forest specialist and may change its daytime behavior to avoid humans.
- The authors say other semi-arboreal felids, such as the margay, may be similarly impacted.
In fact, a new study shows that marbled cats (Pardofelis marmorata), semi-arboreal felines native to southern Asia, are so affected by conversion of forests to oil palm plantation that it recommends escalating the species’ conservation status from near threatened to vulnerable.
The study, published in the journal Ecosphere, suggests other forest-dependent felids, such as the margay (Leopardus wiedii), may be similarly affected. By contrast, some small wild cats that spend more time on the ground than up in trees can adapt better to these human-altered environments.
The researchers analyzed camera-trap images from across Southeast Asia to compare the marbled cat’s habitat use with that of the more adaptable leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis). They found that the marbled cat “responds poorly to habitat clearing and oil palm plantations,” according to Alexander Hendry, first author of the paper with the University of Queensland, Australia.
“The marbled cat was the ideal candidate to test our hypothesis that semi-arboreal animals would be more sensitive to rainforest degradation, such as selective logging, edges, fragmentation, and agricultural incursions,” Hendry told Mongabay in an email interview. Camera-trap data confirmed that it is an “interior forest specialist,” relying upon forest connectivity, according to the researchers.
https://phys.org/news/2023-02-invasive-rusty-crayfish-wisconsin-lakes.html