Rusty-spotted wildcat run over by train in Boisar

A male rusty-spotted wildcat was run over by a train near Betegaon in Boisar early on Saturday. The cat was crossing the track in search of food, when the train,

A male rusty-spotted wildcat was run over by a train near Betegaon in Boisar early on Saturday. The cat was crossing the track in search of food, when the train, which is still unidentified, ran over it, the forest department said.

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The incident came to light after the motorman of a Boisar-Panvel train that passed through the route saw the carcass and informed an animal rights activist. The activist informed the forest department, Palghar.

Vaishali Chauhan,animal rights activist, said, “After I received the call, I informed Amol Angre, beat officer, forest department.”

Angre said the wildcat was between two and three years old. “It was run over while it was searching for its natural prey in the dead of the night as the wildcat is a nocturnal animal. We took custody of the carcass and sent it to post-mortem. We later buried it. The wildcat is often mistaken for a cub leopard as it has spots on its body,” said Angre.

The rusty-spotted cat is the smallest wild cat in Asia and weighs around 2 to 3 kg. It is categorised as ‘Near Threatened’ in the list of threatened species.