We report the first live photographic record of the marbled cat Pardofelis marmorata from a reserve forest in the Sikkim Himalaya, contributing new insights into its distribution in India.

The species was opportunistically sighted on 10 March 2025 at 18:35 h during a routine botanical survey in Labdang, Gyalshing District, at an altitude of 1,835 m. A single individual was observed perched on a Castanopsis sp. tree and photographed using a Nikon COOLPIX P900.

Unlike previous records in India, which are based solely on camera trap data, this is the first direct observation and photographic documentation of the species in its natural habitat. The sighting occurred within a broadleaved temperate forest, approximately 1,000 m from agricultural land and 1,560 m from human habitation, highlighting the species' possible tolerance to human-modified landscapes. This observation is located over 23 km from the nearest previously known record in Dzongu, suggesting a wider, possibly fragmented, range in Sikkim.

The presence of this marbled cat in unprotected reserve forest underscores the conservation importance of buffer zones and community-managed forests. We recommend intensive ecological surveys to assess the distribution, population status, habitat use, and threats associated with marbled cats across the Sikkim Himalaya.

Tangjang, Sumpam & Lepcha, Dorjee & Lepcha, Palzor & Lepcha, Dupjang & Pradhan, Aditya. (2026). Photo evidence of marbled cat in a non-protected forest of the Sikkim Himalaya. 85. 30-32.

Sarawak is the largest state in the megadiverse country of Malaysia. Its rich biodiversity is threatened by land-use change and hunting, with mammalian carnivores particularly affected. Data on the ecology, occurrence and distribution of small carnivores are crucial to inform their effective conservation, but no large-scale assessments have previously been conducted in Sarawak.

Here we examine the status of the five species of felids in Sarawak based on data from camera-trap studies over 17 years (May 2003-February 2021) across 31 study areas, including protected areas of various sizes, production forests and forest matrix within oil palm plantations.

Felids were detected at 39% of 845 camera stations.

The marbled cat (Pardofelis marmorata) and Sunda clouded leopard (Neofelis diardi) had higher probabilities of occurrence in protected than unprotected areas, and vice versa for the leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) and bay cat (Catopuma badia).

The marbled and bay cats were mostly diurnal, and the leopard cat was predominantly nocturnal; activity patterns did not substantively differ between protected and unprotected sites.

The probabilities of occurrence of marbled and bay cats increased with greater distance from roads. The leopard cat and flat-headed cat (Prionailurus planiceps) were more likely, and the clouded leopard less likely, to occur near rivers.

Flat-headed cats preferred peat swamp forest, bay cats lowland forest, and marbled cats and clouded leopards occurred in both lowland and montane forest.

Felids may tolerate higher elevations to avoid anthropogenic disturbance; therefore, it is critical to preserve lowland and mid-elevation habitats that provide refugia from climate change and the destruction of lowland habitat.

Mohd-Azlan, J.; Kaicheen, S.S.; Hong, L.L.C.; Yi, M.C.K.; Maiwald, M.J.; Helmy, O.E.; Giordano, A.J.; Brodie, J.F.
Ecology, occurrence and distribution of wild felids in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo
2023 Oryx (57): 252-261

Marbled cats (Pardofelis marmorata) are notoriously elusive and difficult to detect with camera trapping surveys, possibly due to their arboreal behaviours.

Here, we review available published literature on camera trapping surveys within their range over the past two decades which successfully detected the species, with the inclusion of records from our own camera-trapping surveys from Pu Mat National Park, Vietnam.

We describe challenges in detectability, and recommend that to optimize their detectability, future monitoring efforts of the species should focus on targeted camera trapping locations surrounding lowland broadleaf forest edges with stations spaced ~1 km apart and with at least 72-90 trap night effort per camera, or to explore other alternatives of detection such as environmental DNA (eDNA) or invertebrate-derived DNA (iDNA).

Cao, L.N.; Gray, R.J.; Pham, T.V.; Trinh, M.T.; Nguyen, T.V.; Nguyen, H.T.T.; Willcox, D.; Cuong, T.X.; Tuan, V.C.A.; Dung, L.V.; Nguyen, T.V.
Confirmed evidence of marbled cat in Pu Mat National Park, Vietnam
2022 Cat News (75): 25-28

We present an update on the photographic detections from camera traps and the activity patterns of Borneo's four small cats, namely, Sunda Leopard Cat (Prionailurus javanensis), Flat-headed Cat (P. planiceps), Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata), and Bay Cat (Catopuma badia), at two sites in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia.

Camera trap survey data of 10 years (2008-2018) from the first site in Sebangau provide details about the temporal partitioning of these small cats from each other but overlap with Sunda Clouded Leopard (Neofelis diardi). The activity of Flat-headed Cat was higher after midnight and that of Leopard Cat at night with no clear preference before or after midnight. The Marbled Cat is predominantly diurnal, but the remaining three cats have flexible activity periods. While limited data are available from Rungan, the second site, we confirmed the presence of all four small cat species found on Borneo, though we have insufficient data to comment on the Bay Cat.

The cat sightings, however, are intermittent and may reflect the unprotected status of this forest. Leopard Cats appear relatively unaffected by habitat disturbance based on encounter rates on camera traps. Conservationists, both NGOs and the government, must pay particular attention to specialists like Flat-headed Cats and Bay Cats when assessing habitat suitability for long-term cat conservation.

Jeffers, K.A.; Adul,; Cheyne, S.M.
Small cat surveys: 10 years of data from Central Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo
2019 Journal of Threatened Taxa (11): 13478-13491

Fifteen extant species of cats inhabit India, and the northeastern region of the country is among the richest with nine species. Among these are the "standard four", an assemblage of Clouded Leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Asiatic Golden Cat (Catopuma temminckii), Marbled Cat (Pardofelis marmorata), and Leopard Cat (Prionailurus bengalensis), which also occur across southeastern Asia. Within India, despite several surveys in this region, very little information exists on the ecology of this assemblage to explain their co-occurrence.

In this paper, we put together data from several independent camera trapping studies over 10 sites across northeastern India to examine and interpret diel activity patterns of this group. While we present results for all the four species, we focus on two species, the Marbled Cat and Leopard Cat, which are of very similar body size and are potential competitors. We used kernel density estimates to measure diel activity patterns of all four species and overlap in activity between Marbled Cat and Leopard Cat at the regional scale as well as the point scale. We obtained 783 captures of the standard four from >27,500 trap nights.

The Asiatic Golden Cat and Marbled Cat were strongly diurnal, Clouded Leopard largely crepuscular and nocturnal, and Leopard Cat largely nocturnal. The degree of overlap between Marbled Cat and Leopard Cat activity was low and in consensus with other studies across southeastern Asia.

We interpret this as the differing niche spaces of the two cats due to their specific pre-existing adaptations, not restricted to the effects of competition. The point scale analysis when both cats are captured at the same location and separately show no shift in activity pattern, supporting our hypothesis of pre-existing differences in resources, such as food, playing a major role in facilitating co-existence. Our study, however, is preliminary and additional information with robust analysis is required to test this finding.

Mukherjee, S.; Singh, P.; Silva, A.P.; Ri, C.; Kakati, K.; Borah, B.; Tapi, T.; Kadur, S.; Choudhary, P.; Srikant, S.; Nadig, S.; Navya, R.; Björklund, M.; Ramakrishnan, U.
Activity patterns of the small and medium felid (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) guild in northeastern India
2019 Journal of Threatened Taxa (11): 13432-13447

Niche differentiation, the partitioning of resources along one or more axes of a species' niche hyper-volume, is widely recognised as an important mechanism for sympatric species to reduce interspecific competition and predation risk, and thus facilitate co-existence. Resource partitioning may be facilitated by behavioural differentiation along three main niche dimensions: habitat, food and time. In this study, we investigate the extent to which these mechanisms can explain the coexistence of an assemblage of five sympatric felids in Borneo.

Using multi-scale logistic regression, we show that Bornean felids exhibit differences in both their broad and fine-scale habitat use. We calculate temporal activity patterns and overlap between these species, and present evidence for temporal separation within this felid guild. Lastly, we conducted an all-subsets logistic regression to predict the occurrence of each felid species as a function of the co-occurrence of a large number of other species and showed that Bornean felids co-occurred with a range of other species, some of which could be candidate prey.

Our study reveals apparent resource partitioning within the Bornean felid assemblage, operating along all three niche dimension axes. These results provide new insights into the ecology of these species and the broader community in which they live and also provide important information for conservation planning for this guild of predators.

Hearn, A.J.; Cushman, S.A.; Ross, J.; Goossens, B.; Hunter, L.T.B.; MacDonald, D.W.
Spatio-temporal ecology of sympatric felids on Borneo. Evidence for resource partitioning?
2018 PLoS ONE (13): 1-25