Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

Earlier this year in January, camera traps set up in West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve, captured images of the only wildcat in the world that can climb down, hang upside down from and hunt in trees. This cat has striking, cloud-shaped coat patterns that help it camouflage into dense forest habitats and is aptly named — clouded leopard. It was spotted in the region after a gap of two years.

The species was also observed along with other small wildcats in a camera trap study published in May 2026 in small community-owned forests in Meghalaya.

The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is a medium-sized wild cat whose range extends across South and Southeast Asia. It is also an exceptional climber, with a body measuring up to 40-50 inches in size, with as long a tail.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Species, the clouded leopard is listed as vulnerable due to its rapidly declining population. Estimates suggest there are only between 3,700-5,580 mature individuals globally. In India, they are protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which offers the highest level of legal protection.

Its population decline is owed to multifaceted threats, including habitat destruction, targeted hunting, and incidental deaths from snares intended for other animals. There is an urgent need for enhanced transboundary cooperation to safeguard the cat, particularly in regions where habitats and corridors cross international borders.

In a story that Mongabay-India published in January 2025, Imon Abedin, a wildlife biologist and PhD scholar, Department of Zoology, Bodoland University, said, “Climate change is expected to worsen habitat suitability, potentially causing up to 41% habitat loss across its current and historical range, according to the IUCN.”

Read more about how clouded leopards share habitats with species like the leopard cat and develop ways to survive competition.

Banner image: A clouded leopard in Aizawl Zoo, Mizoram. Image by Dr. Raju Kasambe via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Heavy monsoon rains have led to flash floods and landslides across India’s northeast states, leaving at least three people dead in Arunachal Pradesh, inundating villages in Assam, damaging infrastructure across several states and prompting fresh warnings of more extreme rainfall in the coming days.

Arunachal Pradesh was the first to get hit with flash floods triggered by intense rainfall striking Keyi Panyor district on June 24, washing away homes, roads and bridges, particularly around the Panyor Hydel Project colony near Yazali.

Media reports suggest that thousands of people across 12 of Arunachal Pradesh’s 28 districts have been affected to varying degrees as floods triggered by incessant monsoon rains continued to wreak havoc across the state.

The Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police and district authorities have been carrying out rescue operations, using helicopters to reach communities cut off by damaged roads and swollen rivers. Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke with Chief Minister Pema Khandu and assured the state of central assistance.

The impact has extended downstream into Assam, where the first major flood wave of the 2026 monsoon has affected more than 22,000 people across six districts (across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh), including Dhemaji, Lakhimpur and Dibrugarh. Nearly 100 villages and over 1,600 hectares of agricultural land have been inundated. In Dhemaji, riverbank erosion led to the partial collapse of a railway bridge over the Simen River in Simen Chapari, disrupting train services and isolating several villages.

Heavy rainfall has also triggered landslides and transport disruptions in Meghalaya, while Sikkim reported the washing away of a Bailey bridge over the Phee Khola at Phidang in the Dzongu region of North Sikkim, cutting off road connectivity. Authorities in Nagaland have also warned of flash floods and landslides as the active monsoon persists.

Banner image: Flood affected people travel on a boat during the rescue operation of State Deserter Response Force (SDRF) after heavy rain and flooding in Guwahati, Assam, in April 2026. Representative image. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath)

Amid concerns over El Niño and a weak monsoon, the central government has identified 315 districts as vulnerable, which includes 111 highly vulnerable districts.

Global meteorological agencies, including the India Meteorological Department (IMD), have confirmed a high likelihood of El Niño conditions. IMD has also forecast that southwest monsoon rainfall is likely to be 90% of the long-period average, placing it in the below normal category, and its impact is already visible.

On Tuesday, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, while speaking to the media, said, “The southwest monsoon is significantly delayed this year and rainfall so far has been around 43% below normal.”

Chouhan said that around 315 districts have been identified as potentially affected by weak monsoon conditions. Of these, 111 districts have irrigation coverage below 25% and fall under the high-priority category. Another 76 districts with irrigation coverage between 25% and 50% are categorised as medium priority, while 128 districts are classified as low priority owing to relatively better irrigation facilities through dams and other sources. Most of the affected districts are located in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

“Changing crop strategy in rain-fed areas has become the need of the hour,” Chouhan said. The union government has advised states to promote short-duration crop varieties and those capable of delivering higher yields with lower water requirements and also to switch immediately to alternative crop options if there is a prolonged gap between the normal sowing period and the onset of rainfall.

The minister also discussed the potential fodder shortage and water conservation. To deal with possible fodder shortage, the centre is creating supply plans including transporting fodder from surplus regions to deficit areas. For water conservation, harvesting projects under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) and Viksit Bharat-Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-GRAMG) should receive priority.

For continuous monitoring of the emerging situation, the central government has set up an ‘El Niño Monitoring Cell’ and a ‘Crop Weather Watch Group.’ It has advised states to establish control rooms, and the Chouhan said that secretary-level reviews are being conducted every week.

For Kharif 2026, a food grain production target of around 176 million tonnes has been set, the minister informed. “There is no need to panic. What is required is preparedness and collective action,” he added.

Banner image: A farmer inspects his destroyed crop of sugarcane following drought in Marathwada region, Maharashtra, in 2016. Representative image. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup, File)

Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

A few days ago, footage of a rare goat-antelope native to the eastern Himalayas, was captured in Tingda Reserve Forest, Sikkim. Often described as a cross between a goat and an ox, this ungulate is called the Mishmi takin. Forest department officials recorded the video during a routine patrolling exercise. Comprising eight individuals, this was also the largest herd recorded from the locality.

Known for its robust build, thick shaggy coat and large curved horns, the Mishmi takin (Budorcas taxicolor) is one of four subspecies of the takin. It is a large herbivorous ungulate native to the Eastern Himalaya. It feeds on grasses, leaves, bamboo shoots, and bark from alpine and deciduous plants such as rhododendrons, oaks, and willows, thus shaping vegetation and aiding seed dispersal.

The Mishmi takin thrives in dense forests and subalpine meadows, at elevations between 1,800 and 4,500 metres depending on the season. In India, it is found primarily in the Dibang Valley of Arunachal Pradesh — home of the Idu Mishmi, an indigenous community that has long coexisted with the takin — and parts of Sikkim. The species also occurs in southeastern Tibet, northwestern Yunnan, and northern Myanmar.

Population estimates based on anecdotal reports suggest only 220-300 individuals remain in India, while China hosts an estimated 3,500 individuals. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) lists the Mishmi takin as vulnerable due to declining populations. In India, it is protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Highly sensitive and elusive, the species faces growing threats from habitat disturbance, road construction, human encroachment, and climate change. Research by the Wildlife Institute of India found that only about 11% of northern and eastern Arunachal Pradesh currently provides optimal habitat for the species.

In a story published in Mongabay-India in 2025, Chi Ma, an associate professor of mammal behaviour and diversity at Dali University, China, said: “Its survival depends on the integrity of humid montane forests, access to mineral licks, and the availability of uninterrupted migration corridors.”

Read more about the Mishmi takin in our story on the Mishmi takin and its changing habitat.

Banner image: A herd of Mishmi takin in Dibang Valley, Arunachal Pradesh. Image by T.R. Shankar Raman via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

A new study reports the first confirmed record in India of the Sistan sand boa (Eryx sistanensis), a species formally described only in 2020 and previously known from Iran and Pakistan. Researchers documented three live individuals from the northern Thar Desert in Rajasthan.

The discovery effectively adds a fourth species of sand boa to India, alongside the red sand boa (Eryx johnii), rough-scaled sand boa (Eryx conicus) and Whitaker’s boa (Eryx whitakeri). The study also suggests that the species may have been present in northwestern India for decades but remained overlooked because of its close resemblance to the red sand boa.

The study found that the Sistan sand boa can be distinguished from the red sand boa by its persistent dark bands and a tail that gradually tapers towards the tip. While red sand boas lose their body bands as they mature, the Sistan sand boa retains its sooty bands throughout life. Juveniles are buff-coloured, while subadults and adults are tan to tan-brown.

According to the study’s lead author and conservation biologist Vivek Sharma, the species may face many of the same threats as the better-known red sand boa, which is heavily targeted in India’s illegal wildlife trade.

“All sand boas are traded widely,” Sharma says. Used by snake charmers, they are traded across the country and often transported far beyond their natural range. Some of the earliest observations of what is now recognised as the Sistan sand boa came from snakes found with charmers in Punjab, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh.

Sharma notes that forest departments occasionally confiscate sand boas from snake charmers and release them into the wild. While well-intentioned, such releases can create ecological problems if snakes are released far from their native range. “Animals may survive, but often struggle to adapt to unfamiliar habitats,” he says.

The study also sheds light on the species’ habitat preferences. Most records of the snake came from farmlands, scrubland and compact sandy soils close to human habitation, including courtyards, cowsheds and suburban gardens. “The species is found particularly around farmlands and human-dominated landscapes,” Sharma says. “This raises concerns about the effects of land-use change, agricultural intensification and habitat alteration on its populations.”

The species has not yet been evaluated by the IUCN and is currently listed under Schedule II of India’s Wildlife Protection Act.

Recognition of Sistan sand boa as a distinct species brings new conservation challenges. Sharma warns that it could become a target for the growing herping tourism industry, where reptiles are handled and photographed by enthusiasts, sometimes involving the movement of animals between locations. “Its docile nature, tolerance to temperature variation and low maintenance requirements may also make it attractive to the pet trade,” he says, adding: “Now that we’ve identified it as a separate species, separate conservation attention is needed.”

Banner image: A Sistan sand boa. Image by Vivek Sharma.

Species File: Exploring India’s biodiversity, one species at a time.

Imagine five cars parked behind one another. That’s approximately how long this fish is. Growing up to 18 metres in length, it is considered as the world’s largest fish. It has a distinctive pattern of white spots which are unique to each individual, much like a human fingerprint.

The whale shark (Rhincodon typus) is a slow-moving filter feeder found along India’s entire coastline, with the largest aggregation off Gujarat’s coast. It plays a role in maintaining the marine food chain by regulating plankton and small fish populations.

Whale sharks are present worldwide in tropical and warm-temperate waters. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the whale shark is listed as endangered due to global population decline. In India, it has the highest legal protection under Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

It faces multiple pressures, including lethal ship collisions, bycatch in fishing gear, and, in the past, targeted hunting for meat and fins. Warming oceans due to climate change, offshore drilling and coastal construction are also shifting their food sources and altering habitats. These pressures have led to its population shrinking by half in the last 75 years.

In recent years, however, community-driven conservation efforts along India’s west coast have helped reduce bycatch-related deaths, though other threats still loom. In an earlier story that Mongabay-India published in 2025, Sajan John, the head of marine projects at Wildlife Trust of India, said, “Earlier, the whale sharks died tangled in gear. Now, they’re released alive before they reach shore. It’s a complete reversal.”

There’s even an app that allows fishers in Gujarat to easily document whale sharks that get caught in fishing nets. This helps them receive compensation for their loss of revenue during the downtime without nets.

Read more about this mobile-based whale shark rescue app, increasing strandings, and community conservation efforts in our stories.

Banner image: A whale shark in an aquarium in Japan. Image by Kimon Berlin via Flickr (CC BY-SA 4.0).