Editing Rusty-spotted cat (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
The distribution of the rusty-spotted cat is relatively restricted. It occurs mainly in [[Moist forest|moist]] and [[dry deciduous forest]]s as well as scrub and [[grassland]], but is likely absent in [[evergreen forest]].<ref name="nowell1996">{{Cite book |title=Wild Cats: status survey and conservation action plan |last1=Nowell |first1=K. |last2=Jackson |first2=P. |publisher=IUCN/SSC Cat Specialist Group, Gland, Switzerland |year=1996 |chapter=Rusty-spotted Cat ''Prionailurus rubiginosus'' |chapter-url=http://www.catsg.org/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/rubig01.htm |access-date=2011-03-18 |archive-date=2018-01-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180113093100/http://www.catsg.org/catsgportal/cat-website/catfolk/rubig01.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> It prefers dense vegetation and rocky areas.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kittle |first1=A. |last2=Watson |first2=A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2004 |title=Rusty-spotted cat in Sri Lanka: observations of an arid zone population |journal=Cat News |issue=40 |pages=17–19}}</ref><ref name="patel06">{{Cite journal |last=Patel |first=K. |year=2006 |title=Observations of rusty-spotted cat in eastern Gujarat |journal=Cat News |issue=45 |pages=27–28}}</ref>

In India, it was long thought to be confined to the south, but records have established that it occurs over much of the country.<ref name="nowell1996" /> It was observed in eastern [[Gujarat]]'s [[Gir National Park]], in [[Maharashtra]]'s [[Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve]] and along India's [[Eastern Ghats]].<ref name="patel06" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pathak |first=B. J. |year=1990 |title=Rusty spotted cat ''Felis rubiginosa'' Geoffroy: A new record for Gir Wildlife Sanctuary and National Park |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=87 |page=8}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dubey |first=Y. |year=1999 |title=Sighting of rusty spotted cat in Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve, Maharashtra |journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society |volume=96 |issue=2 |page=310}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Manakadan |first1=R. |last2=Sivakumar |first2=S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2006 |title=Rusty-spotted cat on India's east coast |journal=Cat News |issue=45 |page=26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Behera |first=S. |year=2008 |title=Rusty-spotted Cat in Nagarjunasagar Srisailam Tiger Reserve |journal=Cat News |issue=48 |page=19}}</ref> [[Camera trap]]ping revealed its presence in [[Pilibhit Tiger Reserve]] in the Indian [[Terai]] and in [[Nagzira Wildlife Sanctuary]] in Maharashtra.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Anwar |first1=M. |last2=Kumar |first2=H. |last3=Vattakavan |first3=J. |name-list-style=amp |year=2010 |title=Range extension of rusty-spotted cat to the Indian Terai |journal=Cat News |issue=53 |pages=25–26}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Patel |first1=K. |year=2010 |title=New distribution record data for rusty-spotted cat from Central India |journal=Cat News |issue=53 |pages=26–27}}</ref> 

In western Maharashtra, the rusty-spotted cat is breeding in a human dominated agricultural landscape, where rodent densities are high.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Athreya |first1=V. |year=2010 |title=Rusty-spotted cat more common than we think? |journal=Cat News |issue=53 |pages=27}}</ref> In December 2014 and in April 2015, it was photographed by camera traps in [[Kalesar National Park]], [[Haryana]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ghaskadbi |first1=P. |last2=Habib |first2=B. |last3=Mir |first3=Z. |last4=Ray |first4=R. |last5=Talukdar |first5=G. |last6=Lyngdoh |first6=S. |last7=Pandav |first7=B. |last8=Nigam |first8=P. |last9=Kaur |first9=A. |name-list-style=amp |year=2016 |title=Rusty-spotted Cat in Kalesar National Park and Sanctuary, Haryana, India |journal=Cat News |issue=63 |pages=28–29 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316159185 |access-date=2018-01-12 |archive-date=2021-01-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125082850/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316159185_Rusty-spotted_cat_in_Kalesar_National_Park_and_Sanctuary_Haryana_India |url-status=live }}</ref> It was also recorded by camera traps in [[Mirzapur]] Forest Division of [[Uttar Pradesh]] in 2018.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Sinha |first1=D. |last2=Chaudhary |first2=R. |name-list-style=amp |title=Wildlife Inventory and Proposal for Sloth Bear Conservation Reserve in Marihan-Sukrit-Chunar Landscape of Mirzapur Forest Division, Uttar Pradesh |date=2019 |publisher=Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation |location=Mirzapur |isbn=978-93-5279-561-1 |page=32 |url=https://vindhyabachao.org/mirzapur-wildlife |access-date=16 August 2019 |archive-date=7 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807002224/https://vindhyabachao.org/mirzapur-wildlife |url-status=live }}</ref>

In March 2012, a rusty-spotted cat was photographed in [[Bardia National Park]] for the first time, and in March 2016 also in [[Shuklaphanta National Park]], both in Nepal.<ref name="appel"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lamichhane |first1=B. R. |last2=Kadariya |first2=R. |last3=Subedi |first3=N. |last4=Dhakal |first4=B. K. |last5=Dhakal |first5=M. |last6=Thapa |first6=K. |last7=Acharya |first7=K.P. |name-list-style=amp |year=2016 |title=Rusty-spotted Cat: 12th cat species discovered in Western Terai of Nepal |journal=Cat News |issue=64 |pages=30–33}}</ref>

In Sri Lanka, there are a few records in montane and lowland [[rainforest]]. There are two distinct populations, one in the [[Sri Lanka dry-zone dry evergreen forests|dry zone]] and the other in the wet zone.<ref name="Deraniyagala56">{{Cite journal |last=Deraniyagala |first=P. E. P. |date=1956 |title=A new subspecies of rusty spotted cat from Ceylon |journal=Spolia Zeylanica 28 |page=113}}</ref>
In 2016, it was recorded for the first time in [[Horton Plains National Park]] at elevations of {{cvt|2084|-|2162|m}}.<ref name="Nimalrathna et al. 2019">{{cite journal |last1=Nimalrathna |first1=T. |last2=Choo |first2=Y. R. |last3=Kudavidanage |first3=E. |last4=Amarasinghe |first4=T. |last5=Bandara |first5=U. |last6=Wanninayaka |first6=W. |last7=Ravindrakumar |first7=P. |last8=Chua |first8=M.A.H. |last9=Webb |first9=E.L. |name-list-style=amp |year=2019 |title=First photographic record of the Rusty-spotted Cat ''Prionailurus rubiginosus'' (I. Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, 1831) (Mammalia: Carnivora: Felidae) in Horton Plains National Park, Sri Lanka |journal=Journal of Threatened Taxa |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=13506–13510 |doi=10.11609/jott.4094.11.4.13506-13510 |doi-access=free}}</ref>