According to the study, published in the June edition of Ecology, the Ecological Society of America’s journal, Indian scientists from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), an international conservation charity, and University College London (UCL) have discovered six colour morphs of the Asiatic golden cat in Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh.
- Earlier, it was perceived that Asiatic cat in Arunachal Pradesh is found only in golden colour. But now scientists has confirmed that its coat comes in five other shades in Arunachal Pradesh.
- The findings have contributed to an evolutionary puzzle because no other place on earth has so many colours of wild cats of the same species.
- The Idu Mishmi tribes were aware of the different shades of the golden cat. The community believes that the cat, particularly its melanistic (dark pigmentation as opposed to albinism) morph, possesses great powers and thus observe a strict taboo on hunting the cat.
Asiatic golden cat
- The Asiatic golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is listed as near threatened on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List of threatened species.
- It is found across eastern Nepal through north-eastern India to Indonesia.
- Bhutan and China were known to have two morphs of the golden cat — one the colour of cinnamon and the other with markings similar to the ocelot, a small wild cat found in the Americas.
