Pune: 14-day-old rusty spotted cat reunited with mother

PIMPRI CHINCHWAD: A 14-day-old rusty spotted cat was reunited with its mother near Ahmednagar by the state forest department and the Wildlife SOS team based at the Leopard rescue centre at Manikdoh on Monday.
Sugar cane growers from Walki village in Ahmednagar district stumbled upon the tiny wild cat while returning home from the fields. The farmers contacted the forest department, who in turn got in touch with NGO Wildlife SOS.
A four-member team of the NGO rushed to the spot and conducted a medical examination on the animal. Its para-veterinary officer, Mahendra Dhore, confirmed that the kitten was healthy and ready to be united with its mother. The team put the cat in a safe box near the field and monitored it from a short distance.
Multiple attempts were made to reunite the kitten with the mother as in the beginning she was wary of the safe box. But later she took away the kitten. Ajay Deshmukh, senior veterinary officer at the rescue centre, Manikdoh, said, “The mother was initially scared of approaching the safe box on the first day. On the second day, she came back for her kitten around noon.”
Kartick Satyanarayan, co-founder and chief executive officer, Wildlife SOS said, “The rusty spotted cat (Prionailurius rubiginosus) is one of the world’s smallest wild cats. It was extremely important for us to reunite the kitten with his mother and ensure its safe return to its natural habitat, as it is in the near-threatened status on the IUCN Red List. Its distribution is limited to the dry deciduous forests, scrubs and the grasslands of India and Sri Lanka.”
Manchar range forest officer Prajyot Palve said, “The tall sugar cane crop in the fields, along with easy access to water and shelter, provides a safe cover for the wild cats to breed in and nurture the kittens till they grow up.”