Abundance and Distribution of Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopumma teminckii Vigors and Horsfield) and Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa Grifith) in Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary, Bhutan

Abstract

Little is known regarding the biology and status of Near Threatened Asiatic golden cat, Catopumma teminckii Vigors and Horsfield and Vulnerable Clouded leopard, Neofelis nebulosa Griffith, in Bhutan. A systematic camera trap survey was conducted in Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary from December 2018 to February 2019 to assess the abundance, activity patterns and conservation threats of these species. Distributions of both the species were recorded in the elevation range of 216-1690 m asl. Asiatic golden cat was nocturnal (66.60% of the pictures; n = 2) and least abundant (RAI = 0.17) whereas the Clouded leopard was diurnal (75.00%; n = 8) and second least abundant (RAI = 0.68) among its sympatric species. Daily activities of these species showed an overlapping pattern with its sympatric species in which high degree of overlap was seen between Clouded leopard and Marbled cat (Δ = 0.77). The habitat under study was moderately disturbed by deforestation (46.45%). Thus, these findings call for regular monitoring of their threatened habitats.