‘Elusive’ marbled cat spotted on India trail cam

In a national park near India’s easternmost border, an “elusive” feline with “unusually large” teeth stalked through the dark forest, its large, fluffy tail swishing behind it. Its movement triggered a nearby trail camera.

The resulting photo turned out to be a “rare sighting.”

“Exciting conservation news!!” Chandra Mohan Patowary, the state of Assam’s minister for environment and forests, said in a Feb. 27 Facebook post. “Our camera trap inside Dehing Patkai National Park just captured a rare sighting of (an) elusive marbled cat.”

Marbled cats, scientifically known as Pardofelis marmorata, are a small species of wild cat found across southeast Asia, according to the Thai National Parks department. They are roughly the size of domestic cats but have “long” tails and “unusually large canine teeth” that resemble the teeth of big cats.

A trail camera photo taken in late 2024 shows the marbled cat walking through a clearing. Its fur appears yellowy brown and has a spotted pattern similar to other better-known big cats.

Very little is known about marbled cats because of their nocturnal, tree-dwelling lifestyles. The species is considered vulnerable and at-risk with “fewer than 10,000 mature” cats in the wild, wildlife officials said.

In late 2023, Dehing Patkai National Park began an “extensive” project to study five species of small wild cat, including the marbled cat, the Indian news outlet Mongabay reported.