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Roads in India are a deadly risk to the world’s smallest wild cat
['Nikhil Sreekandan']
Scroll.in
For an elusive small cat that has been rarely observed in the wild, these roadkill records add up to a significant number.
Death traps for small catsNative to India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the rusty-spotted cat is widely recognised as the world’s smallest wild cat species.
The recent expansion of camera trapping in India has shown that the rusty-spotted cat has a wider distribution than previously understood.
However, Rashid cannot recall encountering a rusty-spotted cat roadkill in the Satpura Tiger Reserve, where his family runs an eco-lodge.
While road networks are highlighted as a threat in other small cat assessments, they are not for the rusty-spotted cat.