MOGOLLANA – A tiny, little-known wild cat species called the Pallas’s cat is currently found in the Central Asian steppes and highlands. We hope to learn more about this kitty through a brand-new study project named “PICA” (Pallas’s Cat International Conservation Alliance), which was started earlier this year. Although the initiative is just getting started, it has already yielded some amazing, infrequent footage of Pallas’s cats, including film of wild babies.
The video was captured by a group of remote-sensor research cameras positioned in Mongolia’s Gobi Gurvan Saikhan National Park’s Zoolon Mountains. Three Pallas’ cat pups can be seen in one nighttime video curiously inspecting the camera, while an adult cat can be seen searching for clues in broad daylight in another sample.
According to David Barclay, Cat Conservation Officer of the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, “This is the first footage of Pallas’s cat cubs taken in this section of Mongolia as far as we know and is a valuable discovery from our project partners Snow leopard Trust” (RZSS).
The cameras are a part of the brand-new global Pallas’s cat conservation initiative, PICA, which was started by the RZSS, Nordens Ark, a Swedish breeding facility and zoo, and the US-based conservation group Snow Leopard Trust. PICA aims to collect more data on the Pallas’s cat, one of the least-studied felines in the world.
Emma Nygren, a conservation biologist at Nordens Ark who oversees the research project, claims that “we still don’t know much about the behaviour of the Pallas’s cat, or even its true range.” “We hope that this study will provide important new insights if we are to successfully protect this strange cat.”
The Snow Leopard Trust is a technical and logistical partner in the project and has been operating in this region of Mongolia for more than ten years.
In any case, we’re looking for snow leopards in these mountains. The Pallas’s cat inhabits a similar habitat and is just as elusive, so it makes sense to continue our research on them, according to Gustaf Samelius, Assistant Director of Science at the Snow Leopard Trust.
The investigation will last for at least three more years, all thanks to the kind assistance of Fondation Segré.
