BHOPAL: The elusive Caracal, often referred to as the “flying cat”, has been recorded at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National Park after decades, marking a rare sighting of the highly threatened wild cat species in India.
The sighting was captured recently in a camera trap inside the park, which is India’s first home to African cheetahs and their India-born cubs. The announcement was made on World Environment Day by state Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav on Friday evening.
Native to Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, arid regions of Pakistan and northwestern India, the Caracal is considered among India’s most threatened wild cats. Its presence at Kuno has been welcomed as a significant indicator of ecological recovery in the region.
Elated over the sighting of the rare Caracal at KNP after decades, the MP CM Dr Mohan Yadav shared pictures of the elusive feline, captured during a camera trap survey, indicating the rare wild cat species return to the forest landscape.
The Caracal’s sighting at Kuno comes around ten months after the same species was reported at Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary, which became the second home to African cheetahs in India three months after their introduction in western Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur and Neemuch districts.
“Return of the Caracal is not only evidence of the thriving biodiversity of the Kuno region but also reflects the positive outcomes of the state government’s efforts towards wildlife conservation in the Kuno National Park. The objective of the Project Cheetah extends beyond the reintroduction of cheetahs and aims at strengthening the entire ecosystem. The initiative also aims to conserve forest ecosystems, increase the population of rare wildlife species and develop safe and sustainable habitats for wildlife through innovative conservation measures,” the CM said.
Popular in Hindi as Siyahghosh and known as the “flying cat” for its ability to leap and hunt birds in mid-air up to three metres, the Caracal is characterised by a robust build, long legs, a short face, long tufted ears, a relatively short tail and long canine teeth. Its coat is uniformly reddish tan or sandy, while the ventral parts are lighter with small reddish markings.
Once widely found across western and central India, the species has now become one of the country’s least sighted predators, largely due to habitat loss and the shrinking of grasslands.
The sighting is part of a broader pattern of rare wildlife appearances in the Kuno landscape. Ahead of the arrival of nine cheetahs from Botswana, the park had recorded the first-ever sighting of the endemic and endangered Forest Owlet, a bird of central India first discovered in 1872 in eastern Madhya Pradesh, later considered extinct after 1884, and then rediscovered in 1997 in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district, which caused a sensation in ornithology circles.
Sightings of other wildlife species, including the Indian Wolf and the Asiatic Wild Dog “Dhole”, have also been reported from the park, attributed largely to improved protection, habitat restoration and better water availability supported by solar-powered systems.
Water is now being channelled through a 15 kilometre long pipeline from the Kuno River, enabling recharge ponds located up to 200 metres in elevation.
“Sightings of other wildlife species, including the Indian Wolf and the Asiatic Wild Dog ‘Dhole’ too have been reported by the Park, largely following better protection, habitat improvement and adequate water availability using the power of solar power. Today Kuno is no longer only about Cheetah. The fast land animal has become a catalyst for something far greater,” Project Cheetah’s field director Uttam Sharma told TNIE.
The rare sighting of a top predator like the Caracal after decades is seen as an indicator of healthy prey populations, improved grassland conditions and a functioning ecosystem.