A research team of the Annapurna Area Conservation Project has photographed pallas’s cat, an endangered species, during their study on snow leopard in upper Manang area.
This is the first time that the rare cat has been found in Nepal. The finding was made public during a press meet today at ACAP’s headquarters.
As many as 14 pictures of the wild cat were recorded on the research team’s 11 cameras that were set at an altitude of 4,200 metres and 4,600 metres in the area in 2012 and 2013, respectively.
A team comprising Coordinator of Snow Leopard Conservancy Project Bikram Shrestha, ACAP Manang Area Office Chief Sudip Adhikari and conservationist Tasi R Ghale found the new animal while conducting research on snow leopard.
Pallas’s cat was first found in Iran’s Khojir National Park in 2008 and later in Bhutan in 2012. The cat is found in Mongolia, Tajakistan and Afghanistan, among other countries. It feeds on mice, spiders and insects found in the mountainous region. The optimal weight of the species is only 4 kg.
source: Himalayan Times, 12 Feb 2014
