Wild cat spotted in SW China after 30 years

A Marbled Cat (Pardofelis Marmorata) is seen through infrared camera in Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Yunnan Province, in this photo taken on November 11, 2014 and released on March 6, 2015. The Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve and Kadoorie Conservation China in Hong Kong on Friday jointly released this photo, which is the first image data of Marbled Cat captured in the wildness in Yunnan. (Photo/Xinhua)

Images of the rare marbled cat have been captured in a remote nature reserve in southwest China's Yunnan Province, researchers said on Friday.

This is the first time researchers with Gaoligong Nature Reserve, which was founded in 1983, have managed to obtain photographic evidence of the endangered animal.

The discovery was jointly announced by Kadoorie Conservation China (KCC) and Gaoligong Nature Reserve.

Images were captured on Oct. 7, 2014 and Nov. 11, 2014 by infrared cameras installed at the Datang station of the nature reserve, according to researchers.

Wang Yingxiang, researcher with Kunming Institute of Zoology of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Doctor Will Duckworth with the World Conservation Union confirmed it was the rare marbled cat.

According to Wang, the first records of the marbled cat in Yunnan were a few specimens found in 1976. The animal was last seen in 1984.

"The images captured this time give us proof that the marbled cat is still alive in Yunnan," Wang said.

Marbled cats, whose scientific name is pardofelis marmorata, has been listed as vulnerable by IUCU. It is mostly distributed in southeast Asia, along the Himalayan foothills and on the island of Borneo.

"We believe the existence of a marbled cat shows the biodiversity of the nature reserve," said Chen Beile, a department manager of KCC. "It indicates the possibility of discovering more rare animals in the area."