Gurgaon: An Asiatic wildcat has been recorded on camera for the first time in the Mangar forest landscape, conservationists said on Sunday.The nocturnal animal was photographed by a camera trap installed in the Mangar area late on Jan 24. This is the first confirmed visual record of the species from this part of the Aravali range. The sighting was reported by Sunil Harsana, a local conservationist who monitors wildlife movement in and around Mangar Bani, one of the remaining natural forest patches near the city.
The sighting is part of a research work which is funded by Panthera for small cat fund 2025 and it is in collaboration with habitat fund. “In the first phase, we are focusing on Mangar, where the sighting was recorded. Based on these findings, we will identify similar wildlife-rich patches across the Aravalis and monitor them,” said Subhash Yadav, conservator of forests, south Haryana.The images show a male Asiatic wildcat moving through scrub forest at night. Conservationists said the record highlights the ecological value of Mangar’s fragmented habitat and its role in supporting lesser-known species, apart from leopards and hyenas already documented in the Aravalis.“This is a rare and encouraging record,” said Sunil. “The Asiatic wildcat is extremely elusive, and its presence shows that despite pressure from urbanisation, mining scars and traffic, parts of Mangar still retain viable habitat,” he added.The sighting adds to a growing list of recent wildlife records from the city’s Aravali belt. In March 2024, a sambar deer was captured on a camera trap in the Damdama Aravalis for the first time. While the species is not rare in the wider region, experts said it had not been recorded so close to human habitation earlier. Another sambar was spotted in Mangar Bani in Feb.A 2016 study by Wildlife Institute of India documented the presence of hyena, palm civet and sambar in Ghamroj. It stated that camera-trap images of sambar marked the first recorded occurrence of the species in Gurgaon’s Aravalis.In Aug 2023, Mangar Bani also reported its first sighting of the rusty-spotted cat, listed as near threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The species is found in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. It was earlier recorded in Rewari, and before that in Dec 2014 and April 2015 in Kalesar National Park.Wildlife researchers said these records mirror findings from a 2017 WII study that confirmed the presence of 10 carnivorous species across the Aravalis of south Haryana. The survey recorded 31 leopards, along with 166 jackals, 91 porcupines, 50 mongooses, 26 jungle cats, 126 hyenas, 61 civets, three wolves and four foxes in the landscape.Environmentalists said the Asiatic wildcat sighting reinforces the conservation value of Mangar and the need to protect remaining forest patches and wildlife corridors in the city’s rapidly urbanising Aravali belt. They stressed the importance of continued camera trapping, habitat protection and regulation of development to support wildlife survival.
