WNPS and SCAR Launch National Initiative to Safeguard Sri Lanka’s Overlooked Small Wild Cats

While the Sri Lankan Leopard rightly commands global attention, three of the country’s three wild cat species quietly live on the margins of public awareness — and increasingly, on the margins of survival.

Recognising this critical conservation gap, the Wildlife & Nature Protection Society (WNPS), in partnership with Small Cat Advocacy and Research (SCAR) and with the support of Classic Wild, has launched a landmark, national-scale conservation initiative: The Small Wild Cats Project.

The project places a long-overdue spotlight on Sri Lanka’s three lesser-known wild cats:

• Fishing Cat (Handun Diviya / Minpiti Punei)

• Jungle Cat (Wal Balala / Kattil Punei)

• Rusty-spotted Cat (Kola Diviya / Thurumpan Punei) — the smallest wild cat in the world

Although small in size, these species play a disproportionately large role in maintaining healthy ecosystems — regulating rodent populations, signalling wetland and forest health, and helping sustain balanced agricultural landscapes. Yet, compared to the Leopard, they remain among Sri Lanka’s least studied and least protected mammals.

WNPS and SCAR: Leading Science-Driven Conservation Beyond the Spotlight

As Sri Lanka’s oldest conservation organisation, WNPS has long championed species and ecosystems that fall outside the popular narrative — from overlooked habitats to underrepresented wildlife. SCAR is a leading force in research focused, science led conservation, generating ecological data, strengthening data driven decision making, and advancing the protection of Sri Lanka’s small wild cats and the environments they occupy.

The Small Wild Cats Project reflects the shared ethos of both organisations through conservation guided by science, strengthened by community engagement, and supported by evidence-based advocacy.

This initiative reinforces the commitment of WNPS and SCAR to broaden conservation attention beyond flagship species, and towards the lesser known custodians of ecosystem health whose declines often goes unnoticed until it is too late.

At the heart of this effort lies a public-powered reporting platform, https://save.cat/, designed to transform everyday wildlife encounters into actionable conservation data.

A National Call for Knowledge: What the Project Seeks to Understand

Despite living alongside people across much of the island, critical gaps remain in our understanding of small wild cats. Through save.cat, WNPS and SCAR aim to answer essential conservation questions, including:

• Where do small wild cats still persist?
Especially outside protected areas — in villages, wetlands, farmlands, tea estates, chena lands, and urban fringes.

• How do they navigate shared landscapes?
Mapping movements through towns, highways, agricultural zones, ecotourism areas, and settlements reveals how these species coexist with people.

• Which habitats matter most?
Identifying frequently used areas helps prioritise habitats for protection, restoration, and targeted community engagement.

• How are they adapting to human presence?
Details such as timing of sightings, road crossings, use of canals or man-made structures provide crucial behavioural insights.

• What threats are communities witnessing first-hand?
Roadkills, snares, habitat loss, poisoning, conflict incidents, and predation by feral dogs and cats — information only local observers can provide.

Each verified report contributes to a national conservation database, supporting research, strengthening wildlife rescue responses, guiding policy decisions, and informing land-use planning.

Why Small Wild Cats Matter — Now More Than Ever

Small wild cats are early-warning indicators of ecosystem health. Their decline often signals deeper environmental breakdowns — degraded wetlands, collapsing food chains, and unsafe agricultural landscapes.

Today, these species face escalating threats:

• Rapid urbanisation and habitat fragmentation

• Road mortality along expanding infrastructure networks

• Snares and poisoning linked to pest control

• Loss of wetlands and forest buffers

• Pressure from feral animals and human-wildlife conflict

By compiling island-wide evidence, the Small Wild Cats Project aims to:

• Inform science-backed conservation policy

• Influence more wildlife-sensitive land-use planning

• Support coexistence strategies for communities and tourism operators

• Identify new conservation hotspots and research frontiers

• Ensure timely rescue and response for injured or displaced animals
  

This initiative represents one of Sri Lanka’s first truly collaborative wildlife data networks — uniting scientists, conservationists, tourism stakeholders, communities, and citizens.

Public Participation: Conservation Starts with a Single Sighting

WNPS and SCAR emphasise that sighting reports without accompanying photographs or videos are still important contributions and should be submitted.

If you see a Fishing Cat, Jungle Cat, or Rusty-spotted Cat anywhere in Sri Lanka — on a village road, near a paddy field, inside a tea estate, along a canal, or even in your backyard — log it on https://save.cat.

The platform also welcomes reports of:

• Roadkill or deceased animals (photos encouraged if safe)

• Rare or underreported mammals such as Jackals, Otters, Grey and Red Slender Loris, and Pangolins etc.,

Users simply:
📍 Mark the location and date (past sightings also count)
📸 Upload a photo or video if possible
📝 Share observations on behaviour or threats

One observation could redefine what we know about an entire population.

Sri Lanka’s conservation future depends not only on protecting its icons, but on safeguarding the full tapestry of wildlife that sustains its ecosystems.

Through the Small Wild Cats Project, WNPS and SCAR once again demonstrate leadership in conservation that is inclusive, evidence-driven, and future-focused — ensuring that the country’s smallest wild cats are no longer overlooked, unheard, or unprotected.

Because conservation isn’t only about the loudest roar — sometimes, it’s about listening for the quietest footsteps.

For more information or to report a sighting, visit:
www.save.cat