Modern Family: Observing a Rusty-Spotted Cat Clan in Rajasthan

On an oppressively hot June morning, as I lazily read the newspaper, photographer Dhritiman Mukherjee calls me. He mentions that he is on his way to Jawai in Rajasthan. “In this heat? It’s nearly 50 degrees. Are you crazy?” I ask. Twenty minutes later, I am in a cab to catch a flight to Udaipur — the airport closest to Jawai. I have embarked on this rather imprudent and hasty expedition because Dhritiman has informed me that locals have spotted a rusty-spotted cat and her kittens in the Chamunderi area around Jawai. Logic and reason rarely triumph against the intrigue and allure of a wildcat. And the rusty-spotted cat is not just any cat; it is the world’s smallest wildcat. Found only in India and Sri Lanka and a small region along the Nepal border, the rusty-spotted cat is one of the least-studied cats. Scientists and researchers know little about this secretive cat’s behaviour or social systems.

The rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) is often confused with the domestic cat. However, it is distinguished by its smaller size, vertical stripes on its forehead, fawn coat with rusty-brown spots arranged in lines on the back, and an unmarked tail. Rusty-spotted cats are usually found in hilly landscapes with dry deciduous forests and scrublands. They also prefer areas with large boulders in and around agricultural fields and human-dominated landscapes. In one such agricultural field I first set eyes on this tiny, cryptic cat and her kittens.

Before we find the cat family in their present location, we had attempted to look for them at an old, dried-up well a few hundred metres from a local house. The house belongs to Raju, Dhritiman’s old friend and our informant regarding the whereabouts of the rusty. Raju had spotted her there a day before we landed. She had been seen in the same well for almost a week. However, when we arrive there is no sign of her or the kittens in and around the well. Domestic cats are known to frequently move their kittens from one location to another for their safety. There is not enough evidence to prove that wildcats display similar behaviour. But to us, evidence seemed to be pointing in that direction. However, the real question is, where do we look for a tiny cat and her kittens in the vast agricultural and rocky landscape of Jawai?

There is a rocky hill around 50 metres from Raju’s house. Raju thinks it likely that the cat moved here with her kittens. “It’s not too far from the well and has enough safe spaces for the kittens,” he says. We drive around the hill many times and encounter several species — eagle owls, a sand boa, and even a jungle cat. There is no sign of the rusty. After nearly two hours of scanning the hill, we suddenly spot the shining eyes of a rusty-spotted kitten ensconced under a large euphorbia shrub. The rusty’s pupils are black with iridescent golden-brown irises. Soon, we spot the second kitten. The euphorbia is surrounded by a profusion of Prosopis juliflora, an invasive shrub, which makes their movements harder to observe but makes their home feel safer. The kittens are playful but cautious — watching every step as they navigate through the crevices and step on the branches of their new home. The mother, unaffected by the posse of admirers watching her kittens, is out on a hunt. While we are peering into our binoculars and cameras, she walks past us (less than ten feet away), rather unflappably, with a rodent in her mouth. 

Rusty-spotted cats are sharp and agile hunters. They cut their prey up with their carnassials (scissor teeth) and swallow them. Their scat indicates their feeding behaviour quite clearly. Researchers have sometimes found the jaws of rodents intact in their poop. They use the shape and other details of the teeth to identify the species eaten.

Once I return home, I speak to small-cat specialist, senior principal scientist at SACON, and self-confessed “crazy cat lady” Shomita Mukherjee about our experiences at Jawai and her work studying the rusty-spotted cat. “You can tell a rusty apart from other cats like the jungle cat and domestic cats because rusty-spotted cats do not have a bridge on the nose,” she says. I am not certain I understand what she means by “bridge on the nose”, so she laughs and says, “Do you remember how the Rajasthani miniature paintings depicted people’s faces? The forehead and the nose seem like they start at the same level.” It’s an image I cannot unsee after this description.

While discussing the episode of seeing the mother with her kill with Shomita, I mention that the cat seemed rather nonchalant about our presence there and went about her business as usual. “Aren’t they supposed to be really shy?” Shomita points out that the rusty, though not observed frequently, often lives alongside people in degraded human landscapes. She says, “My first and probably only good sighting of the rusty-spotted cat was at Sariska. The cat was sitting on a culvert. It was so close that I could have touched it. But it kept sitting there in a hunched, relaxed posture and was perfectly comfortable with my presence. After observing the cat for a while, we left. And the cat continued to sit at that spot.” “The jungle cat is a lot shyer than the rusty-spotted cat. The rusty is surprisingly brave for its size. So, I would say it is cryptic, not shy,” she adds.

Back in Jawai, we are at the hill every morning and evening to observe the behaviour of the rusty-spotted cats. With our daily trips, we notice that the confidence of the kittens grows. One morning, we find them frolicking around as the mother watches — rolling over the rocks and branches, chasing and play-fighting each other. Suddenly, as we watch them spellbound, a fourth figure appears. It’s another rusty. The new addition is slightly larger. The cat has an altercation of sorts with one of the kittens as soon as it arrives. “Who is this cat?” we wonder as we watch, mesmerised. The rocky beginning doesn’t last long, and soon, the fourth cat is also spending time with the family. Based on our observations and later camera trap videos, it seems safe to conclude that the fourth cat is the father of the litter. Shomita tells me this is a very special observation of their social structures. What makes it even more intriguing is the fact that female domestic cats and kittens often have a rather rocky relationship with the male cat. “In domestic cats, a single litter could have multiple fathers. The female has a mating window where she mates; ovulation is induced to increase the chance of pregnancy. She retains the sperm and sometimes mates with other males in the same mating window. After the kittens are born, if the male suspects (because other male cats are around) that the litter is not his, he could kill the kittens and want to mate with the female again. This practice could potentially apply to wildcats as well. That is why observing the father with the kittens could provide significant insights,” she says.

Studying small cats in India is challenging and consequently only limited information is available. In the case of several small cat species, scientists haven’t been able to conclude too much beyond their distribution. “Small cat research is not focused. Some information is available from camera traps, but even that is largely bycatch from camera traps set up for tigers. Radio collaring is also not ideal because it is intrusive and can give us information only from the particular study site and not necessarily about other places they are found,” Shomita says. She adds, “The best way to know and understand more about their behaviour is through observation. What you observed in Jawai is deeply personal and has left you with many insights. However, this kind of observation is not always possible. Especially in research, you would not get enough observations to be statistically robust enough to make a general statement about a species. For example, single observations may be a one-off event, perhaps specific to the area or individual. That said, building knowledge on the natural history of the species or group is very important to interpret research results..”

We had observed the rusty family for a week, and Shomita and I had multiple discussions about what we saw at Jawai and existing research on rusty-spotted cats to put the pieces together. However, behavioural studies on small cats are so limited that the cats remain mysterious and enigmatic. We returned home with our hearts and memory cards full, and more questions than answers. How many times does the cat change the location of her kittens? Why did the male cat join the family? Was he the father? How was he confident the litter was his? We can speculate answers to these questions based on the existing scientific knowledge and our observations, but definitive answers will come only after years of focused and sustained research.