Pallas’s cat sighted at record altitude in Arunachal, alongside five other wild cat species

A WWF-India survey recorded six wild cat species, including the elusive Pallas’s cat, above 4,200 meters in Arunachal Pradesh.

Guwahati: A team of conservation experts recorded six wild cat species, including the rare Pallas’s cat, at altitudes above 4,200 meters in Tawang and West Kameng districts of Arunachal Pradesh, near the border with Tibet.

The survey, conducted by the World Wide Fund for Nature-India (WWF India), involved deploying 136 camera traps at 83 locations across 2,000 km² of high-altitude rangelands between July and September 2024. The team recorded snow leopard, common leopard, clouded leopard, leopard cat, marbled cat, and Pallas’s cat at elevations exceeding 4,200 meters.

Notably, the survey produced the first photographic evidence of Pallas’s cat in Arunachal Pradesh. The exercise also documented the highest elevation records in India for several species: common leopard (Panthera pardus) at 4,600 meters, clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) at 4,650 meters, marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) at 4,326 meters, Himalayan wood owl (Strix nivicolum) at 4,194 meters, and grey-headed flying squirrel (Petaurista caniceps) at 4,506 meters.

According to WWF-India, these elevation records are the highest in India to date and may exceed previously known global elevation limits.

The survey was conducted with support from local communities and the Arunachal Pradesh Forest Department under the project ‘Reviving Trans-Himalayan Rangelands – A Community-led Vision for People and Nature,’ funded by the UK Government through the Darwin Initiative. The WWF-India team was led by Rohan Pandit, Taku Sai, Nisam Luxom, and Pemba Tsering Romo, under the guidance of Rishi Kumar Sharma, Head of WWF-India’s Science and Conservation, Himalayas Programme.

While the elevation record of the Pallas’s cat falls short of the global maximum (~5,050 meters), the discovery remains important. Listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, the cold-adapted Pallas’s cat is among the least studied wild felines due to its elusive nature. Its presence in Arunachal Pradesh expands the known distribution of the species in the eastern Himalayas, complementing earlier records from Sikkim, Bhutan, and eastern Nepal.

Rishi Kumar Sharma noted, “The presence of multiple wild cat species, including Pallas’s cat, alongside traditional pastoral communities highlights the ecological richness of these high-altitude rangelands. These findings underline the importance of science-based, community-led conservation efforts to protect the region’s biodiversity.”

The survey also captured rare behaviour, with a snow leopard and a common leopard scent-marking at the same location, offering new insights into how these big cats share fragile alpine habitats. Additionally, images of the Brokpa herding community and their livestock highlighted the long-standing coexistence between people and wildlife in the region.

Snow Leopard. 

Ngilyang Tam, PCCF & CWLW (Wildlife and Biodiversity), Arunachal Forest Department, remarked, “These findings reinforce Arunachal Pradesh’s status as a global biodiversity hotspot and emphasize the need for ongoing scientific monitoring and conservation efforts.”

The survey involved extensive planning and several days of trekking through remote, high-altitude areas with steep terrain and extreme weather. The camera traps remained active for over eight months under challenging conditions to collect this important data.