The two jungle cats were picked up by residents of Sapor village in Dhubri district from a nearby forest, after discovering that the mother had been killed. Only about two-week-old during their rescue on January 7 this year, they were handed over to the Assam Forest Department. The Forest Department in turn handed the kittens to the lower Assam unit of IFAW-WTI’s Mobile Veterinary Services (MVS) for hand-raising.

Dr Prabhat Basumatary, Veterinary Surgeon, MVS Lower Assam, said, “We hand-raised the cats in our field station and shifted them to the release site in Bansbari on March 21. They are currently confined in a cage at the release site, as part of the ‘soft release’ programme to create site fidelity. They will be released soon.”

“For a fortnight after the release, supplementary food will be provided to the cats. The quantity will be gradually reduced, while they learn to fend for themselves in the wild,” he added.

Jungle cats are the most common wild cats in India. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats and can also survive in areas disturbed by humans. They are listed under schedule II of the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act.

Dr Basumatary is refining the protocol for rehabilitation of small carnivores.  He had carried out similar rehabilitation with a couple of leopard cats last year.