A rusty-spotted cat, the world’s smallest wild cat species, has been photographed with a kitten in Faridabad’s Kot village, confirming breeding in Haryana and the Delhi-NCR region for the first time. The adult and its young were recorded during routine mammalian surveys led by wildlife photographer Yatin Verma and researchers Amit Kumar and Tejveer Mavi.

The team photographed the cat, Prionailurus rubiginosus, on a False Ashoka tree on September 16, 2023, after initial sightings in July 2023. Previous records from Delhi-NCR included only four to five opportunistic sightings with no confirmed breeding. The findings are published in Zoo’s Print, a peer-reviewed journal on wildlife conservation.

Researchers said the record extends the species’ known breeding range into fragmented, non-protected landscapes within the northern Aravalis. Kot village lies in this fold mountain system, which also supports leopards and hyenas across Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.

The rusty-spotted cat is listed under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List, facing pressure from habitat loss and industrial expansion. The team called for management plans that integrate protected and non-protected areas to conserve viable populations, with the research paper now providing evidence to guide such measures.