Challenges faced in rehabilitating orphaned leopard cats (Prionailurus bengalensis) in Western Assam, India.

The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is one of the most widely distributed small cat species in the world. For the current study, 15 leopard cat kittens were hand raised between 2015 and 2021, and the challenges faced in rehabilitating the species were evaluated. During the hand-raising phase, 73% (11/15) of the leopard cat kittens survived, while four died. The average weight gain of the kittens was 10.5 (±1.05) g per day during the milk-dependent period and 14.7 (±1.24) g per day after the introduction of solid food. At the age of 6-7 mo, they were soft released at an appropriate site by first holding them in situ in an acclimatization cage for an average of 20 days. In the absence of radio transmitters, an attempt was made using camera traps to monitor the dependency of the released cats on the supplementary food being kept in the cage. However, no post-release photos of the cats were captured, as the cats did not come back to the cage and showed no fidelity, either to the acclimatization cage or to the food being provided. Post-release monitoring via radio or satellite telemetry would have provided information on the survival and spatial ecology of the individuals. For future studies, we recommend including this approach while hand-raising and releasing leopard cats back into the wild. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]