The worlds second most successful rusty-spotted cat breeding programme at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Borivali has just got more success to it. Recently,two new additions were made to the family of Sachin and Anjali the feline duo named after the cricket sensation and his wife who have been visiting the park since 2006 taking the count of the worlds tiniest cats at the park to six. However,a seventh cat,a sub-adult female,was rescued from Satara about two months ago and is also part of the family now. This breeding programme for the endangered cats at SGNP is second only to Germanys Frankfurt zoo. Born barely a month ago,the two little cubs snuggle to their mother in a tiny cage that connects the main enclosure. The palm-sized,grey-coloured cats are already bringing out sharp claws and making their characteristic spitting sound when they feel threatened. Dr Vinaya Jangale,SGNP veterinarian,said,The cub one male and another female are about a month old and weighed barely 50 grams after birth. Now they are healthy and spend most of their time with mother Anjali. According to the endangered animals list of International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN),the rusty-spotted cats,found only in India and Sri Lanka,are vulnerable species considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. At a maximum weight of 1.5 kgs and 35-48 cm body length,they are smaller than their cousins the domestic cats. However,these cats are almost impossible to domesticate and share their genes with the tigers. Unlike the house cats,these cats dont meow,they hiss and spit. Since last years monsoon,Jangale and her team have been making efforts to kick start the cats breeding and had even contacted experts from Germany for consultation. In December last year,Sachin and Anjali had their first litter with the new additions being the second. Mukesh More,the animal handler at SGNP,is ecstatic with the new births. I had hand-raised Sachin and Anjali in 2006 by taking them home and putting them under warm light. We initially built one large cage with in-built branches to resemble their natural habitat. Now,we are extending the same cage and adding more units as per the Central Zoo Authoritys advice,when they visited us recently, he said. While the cats are now being managed carefully to prevent in-breeding,Jangale said that there were no plans to mate the cubs with the cat rescued from Satara either. We dont want to risk mating the rescued cat with these cubs. Instead,what we plan to do is to rehabilitate them eventually and release them back in the wild. It is very important for the count of these cats to increase in the wild, she said.
