India’s jungle cats thrive in open landscapes, shows mapping study

A new nationwide study mapping jungle cats’ distribution and estimating their population at a national scale finds that India has the potential to support more than 300,000 jungle cats. “We didn’t know much about jungle cats – their habitat associations, population status, interactions with tigers and leopards, or their role in illegal wildlife trade until this study,” says Kathan Bandyopadhyay, the study’s lead author.

Drawing on more than 6,000 verified records, researchers mapped suitable habitat for jungle cats (Felis chaus) across India, largely using data from tiger surveys. The study has been published in Scientific Reports.

The study found that jungle cats prefer warm, semi-arid regions with moderate rainfall and some human presence. Roughly 545,000 square kilometres of suitable habitat has also been identified. States such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, and Gujarat are likely to support large populations.

Senior principal scientist at the Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Shomita Mukherjee notes, “Most researchers would not put in this kind of effort for a relatively common and small species.”

A cat in the scrub and grass

Jungle cats favour open habitats such as grasslands, scrublands, wetlands, and agricultural mosaics, while avoiding dense forests and urban areas. Their long legs and lean bodies help them move through tall grass, and their colouring blends into dry terrain. “The morphological features of the jungle cat clearly indicate that it is a scrub-dwelling cat,” Mukherjee says, though the species is often described as a generalist in their habitat preference.

Estimating their numbers is challenging since, unlike tigers, jungle cats do not have unique markings that make them easily identifiable. Researchers used data from GPS-collared animals to estimate space use and combined it with habitat maps to arrive at a population estimate of about 308,000 individuals, though with wide uncertainty. “This is the first time we’ve attempted this. It’s something we need to revisit in 15-20 years to assess population trends,” Bandyopadhyay says. Mukherjee, however, cautions that the reliance on tiger survey data may miss some habitats. “Models are only as good as the data behind them,” she says.

A 2025 government report analysing data from camera trap images across different locations in 18 states from 2018-2019 and 2022-2023 found jungle cats to be the most widely distributed small cat species, occupying about 96,275 square kilometres.

The species is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List, a status that has contributed to the perception that they are safe and thriving. In India, they are protected under Schedule II of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, recognising their vulnerability to localised threats.

Expanding roads and railways cut through habitats, and cats moving between agricultural patches are often killed by vehicles. Much of their habitat is officially labelled as “wasteland,” making them vulnerable to conversion. Bandyopadhyay explains, “These habitats are under immediate threat from conversion into agricultural land or for green energy projects.”

Jungle cats often live alongside people, especially in farms and grazing areas where rodents are plentiful, but they tend to avoid dense urbanisation and heavy infrastructure. Living close to people, however, brings them into contact with domestic animals. “Stray dogs act as invasive predators by stealing their prey, killing them, and transmitting diseases,” says Bandyopadhyay. Mukherjee adds: “Many jungle cat kittens are ‘rescued’ from crop fields each year, but people often don’t know how to care for them,” potentially reducing survival rates.

The study also identifies hybridisation with domestic cats as a potential concern. However, Mukherjee says that there is no documented evidence of natural hybridisation, adding that raising it as a threat without data is premature, though it cannot be ruled out. Bandyopadhyay agrees that genetic study and more research are needed to confirm these possibilities.

Living in the shade of big cats

For now, the jungle cat is benefiting from certain landscape-level conservation efforts. Wildlife corridors created for tigers are utilised by jungle cats. Conservation projects such as Project Cheetah, which aim to conserve neglected landscapes such as grasslands, also have the potential to benefit small wild cats that use these habitats, according to Bandyopadhyay.

Mukherjee argues conservation policy must reflect this. “Their value lies in a balance with human use. If managed like forests, grasslands may become wooded, and species like the jungle cat could lose out.”

Small carnivores play important ecological roles, yet they do not attract enough attention from scientific community and conservation planners. Jungle cats help control rodent populations in agricultural areas, underscoring the importance of factoring them in while building conservation strategies, as per co-author John Koprowski.

For Bandyopadhyay, the next steps are clear: “We need deeper insights into their movements, susceptibility to diseases, and interactions with other small cats, especially in human-dominated landscapes.” As land-use patterns shift, jungle cats may serve as quiet indicators of ecological change.

This article was first published on Mongabay.