Providing an ecological basis for the conservation of the Pallas's cat (Otocolobus manul)

Abstract

Pallas's cat is a 3-5kg species endemic to Central Asia. It is Near Threatened and thought to be at risk from habitat fragmentation, a declining prey base and consumptive hunting. Moreover, it Is distributed within the temperate grasslands biome, the least protected of all biomes in the world and increasingly under pressure from economic development and population growth. While the current status of Pallas's cat highlights Its need for protection, its ecology has not been studied, impairing the development of conservation strategies. In this thesis I address the need for an ecological framework to support the species conservation. conducted fieldwork for 30 months from 2005 to 2007. Pallas's cats were found to maintain large home range areas and live at very low densities.

Date of Award	2009
Original language	English
Supervisor	Stephen Harris (Supervisor)