Chat marbré

The Marbled Cat is forest dependent and forest loss and degradation is continuing across its range from logging and expansion of human settlements and agriculture, including oil palm plantations. The Marbled Cat is valued for skin, meat and bones, although it is infrequently observed in the wildlife trade (Nowell and Jackson 1996). However, it is possible that illegal killing and trade is underreported compared to other species. Targeted and indiscriminate snaring are prevalent throughout much of the range and likely to pose a significant threat. They have been reported as poultry pests (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Mishra et al. 2006) which also results in retaliatory killing. Records of hunting and skins are known from several areas in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, north-east India - Vijaynagar-Gandhigram in Changlang district (A. Datta unpubl. data), West Kameng district (Mishra et al. 2006), Pakke Kessang, East Kameng district (Lyngdoh et al. 2011), Ziro valley, Lower Subansiri (Selvan et al. 2013) and from Khonoma in Nagaland (Grewal et al. 2011).

The Marbled Cat is listed on CITES Appendix I and is protected by national legislation across most of its range. Hunting is prohibited in Bangladesh, Cambodia, China (Yunnan only), India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal and Thailand. Hunting regulations are in place in Lao PDR and Singapore (Nowell and Jackson 1996). It occurs in many protected areas, but levels of active protection for wildlife vary widely between countries and also between protected areas within countries; it also occurs in unprotected places. However, to better understand its conservation needs and to realize a better assessment in the future, further research is needed into Marbled Cat ecology, distribution and status. More information is especially required regarding the population density, the effects that habitat degradation has on population density and distribution, the extent of hunting and the frequency at which Marbled Cats appear in illegal trade.