In India’s northeast, local communities are leading the charge for the protection of the marbled cat, one of Asia’s most poorly studied small wild cat species, reports contributor Barasha Das for Mongabay India.
The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) is widely distributed across South and Southeast Asia. However, not much is known about its population and movement patterns because it isn’t a species many researchers specifically set out to study. It is “often studied as part of broader wild cat groups rather than through species-specific research,” Jimmy Borah, deputy director of the legal and advocacy division at conservation NGO Aaranyak, told Mongabay India.
Most of what is known about the cat is from camera trap records, Borah added. One such camera trap study in Southeast Asia found that only a small proportion of the marbled cat’s range in the region lies within protected areas.
Similarly, conservationists with the Eastern Himalayas Marbled Cat Project (EHMCP) used camera traps to confirm the presence of the marbled cat in parts of the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Meghalaya, finding that most habitats of the wild cat extend beyond protected areas. “It became clear that if conservation efforts are to be effective, we need to focus on sensitizing communities living around these forests because they interact more frequently with these species but are less aware of them,” Giridhar Malla, founder of the EHMCP, told Mongabay India.
The EHMCP conducted awareness programs in villages near the cat’s habitat and engaged local youth and hunters in their camera trap research. “The challenge is visibility. If people don’t know about a species, it’s difficult to build conservation around it,” Malla said.
Communities near the marbled cat habitats have now initiated conservation measures to protect the species. In October 2025, for example, the Lokpeng Welfare Society, a local conservation group in Lokpeng village in Arunachal Pradesh, declared their community forest as the country’s first community-conserved area for marbled cats. Hunting marbled cats and other wildlife is prohibited within the conservation area. Similarly in Nagaland’s Hebamlo village, residents passed a resolution banning hunting for marbled cats and other small wild cats, and established anti-poaching camps.
While Indian national law bans hunting wild cats, some bushmeat hunting still happens in states like Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland where land and resources are largely governed by local customary laws.
“While I respect local traditions, it’s equally important to recognize the need to protect every species in our forests and reduce hunting,” said Anand Goi, member of the Lokpeng Welfare Society.
Some residents in Arunachal Pradesh’s Siang region said they also plan on starting village homestays to attract wildlife enthusiasts. They also plan to involve hunters in these initiatives to create alternative livelihoods to hunting the cats.
“Low-impact, well-managed, community-led ecotourism can contribute positively to conservation,” Borah said.
Read the full story by Barasha Das here.
Banner image: A marbled cat captured on camera trap in Nagaland. Image by Giridhar Malla.
This story first appeared on Mongabay
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