Context: First time, Pallas’s cat has been discovered on Mount Everest in the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal.
About Pallas’s Cat:
The Pallas’s cat (Otocolobus manul ), also known as the manul, is a small wild cat with long and dense light grey fur.
Its rounded ears are set low on the sides of the head.
It is well camouflaged and adapted to the cold continental climate in its native range, which receives little rainfall and experiences a wide range of temperatures.
The Pallas’s cat has rounded rather than vertical slit pupils, a unique feature among small cats.
It has been recorded across a large areal extent, albeit in widely spaced sites in the Caucasus, Iranian Plateau, Hindu Kush, parts of the Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau, Altai-Sayan region and South Siberian Mountains.
It inhabits rocky montane grasslands and shrublands, where the snow cover is below 15–20 cm (6–8 in).
It finds shelter in rock crevices and burrows, and preys foremost on lagomorphs and rodents.
The female gives birth to between two and six kittens in spring.
Conservation Status:
IUCN: Least concern
CITES: Appendix II
About Sagarmatha National Park
Sagarmatha is an exceptional area with dramatic mountains, glaciers and deep valleys, dominated by Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world (8,848 m) in the Solu-Khumbu district of Nepal.
The park is home to several rare species such as the snow leopard and the red panda.
A well-known destination for mountain tourism SNP was gazetted in 1976 and with over 2,500 Sherpa people living within the park has combined nature and culture since its inception.
The carefully preserved natural heritage and the dramatic beauty of the high, geologically young mountains and glaciers were recognized by UNESCO with the inscription of the park as a world heritage site in 1979.
