A biodiversity survey and camera trapping exercise carried out in two villages — Thitabi and Sonavale, near the famous Malshej ghat — has not only revealed a treasure trove of wildlife species but also provided the first photographic record of the rusty spotted cat from Thane Forest Division. Rusties are known to be the world's smallest cat species and considered to be extremely elusive. The preliminary survey was carried out by Wildlife biologist Zeenal Vajrinkar from The Corbett Foundation (TCF) along with the Thane forest division in April-May 2018. Conservationist and director of TCF, Kedar Gore said, "Though very primary, this also happens to be the first of its kind survey carried outside Protected Area (PA) in Thane forest division. According to him, such a detailed study ascertaining the presence of threatened wildlife outside PA will certainly help protect these areas from future development and infrastructure projects.

Source: dna June 14, 2019 00:45 UTC