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Rusty-spotted Cat With Kitten Confirmed Breeding in Delhi NCR

Rusty-spotted cat looking out from among trees and branches
Research · Reproduction & development

A field note published in 2026 reports the first photographic evidence of rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus) breeding in Delhi NCR, India and Haryana. An adult with a kitten was photographed in Kot Village, Faridabad District, within the northern Aravalli landscape.

The observation was made on 22 July 2025 during mammal monitoring that had been running since August 2022. The kitten appeared dependent on the adult, which the authors interpreted as evidence of reproduction in the area.

The monitoring programme had also photographed a rusty-spotted cat in the area on 16 September 2023, perched in a false ashoka tree (Monoon longifolium). Before the kitten record, only four or five opportunistic sightings had been reported from Delhi NCR, none confirming breeding.

Kot Village is a mosaic of scrub, farmland and settlements affected by urbanisation, grazing, quarrying and encroachment. The adult-and-kitten record confirms that rusty-spotted cats reproduced in this fragmented landscape, but one breeding observation cannot establish the size or long-term stability of the local population. The authors therefore recommend that management plans also consider such green spaces outside protected areas, rather than assuming that breeding habitat is confined to reserves.

Sources and image credit

  1. Kumar, A., Mavi, T., Verma, Y., Rawat, R. K., & Madan, S. (2026). First photographic record of Rusty-spotted Cat with kitten from Delhi NCR, India. Mammal Tales #166. Zoo’s Print, 41(4), 48–50.

Image: David V. Raju / Wikimedia Commons — rusty-spotted cat photographed in India on 23 December 2015; representative species image, not the adult or kitten recorded near Faridabad; cropped to 16:9 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

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