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More than a meow - the visayan leopard cat

The Visayan leopard cat or ‘maral’ Prionailurus bengalensis rabori, is one of the world’s smallest and most vulnerable cats. Already extinct over 95% of its former range, it is now known to survive only in the last few remaining forest patches on the Philippine islands of Panay, Negros and Cebu.

None of these areas (which total less than 180,000 hectares) is adequately protected, although various local community forest warden schemes and other protection activities initiated under the aegis of the Fauna & Flora International Philippines Programme have greatly improved protection of some areas in recent years.

It is clear that Visayan leopard cat mothers often frequent, and give birth in, sugar cane fields, presumably attracted by dense cover and ample supply of rats and other agricultural pests. It is not clear whether pregnant cats migrate into the cane fields from neighbouring forest patches to give birth, or whether they permanently inhabit agricultural areas. In either case, the harvesting of this cane has disastrous consequences for any females rearing litters, which they are then forced to abandon.

Most kittens orphaned in this way die before or shortly after they reach the rescue centres, either from dehydration or other factors relating to their age and the length of time between capture and arrival at the centre (often several days). We are ensuring that improved personnel training, access to expert advice, better equipment, better milk substitutes and imported vaccines all contribute to increased survival. We're also currently looking after ten leopard cats, ranging from a few weeks’ to five years’ old, in two separate, local breeding centres.

These animals almost certainly represent the only captive stock, though even this number of individuals is now putting a severe strain on available resources.