The Jungle Cat, Felis chaus, is a medium-sized Felid found in wetlands across the Middle East, Caucasus region, South and Southeast Asia, and southern China. It is not currently considered globally threatened, but is known to be in decline across its range due to the ongoing loss of wetland habitats. In Jordan the species is currently considered to be Critically Endangered, with the last known record of the species being two dead specimens found in February 1998, on Al–Baqurah Island in the Yarmouk River Valley. However, much of the key environment for the species is found along the Jordan Valley, much of which has been designated a military zone with very limited access.
In a paper published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 July 2024, freelance conservationists Ehab Eid and Mohammed Farid Alayyan of Amman in Jordan present new evidence for the presence of the Jungle Cat in the Jordan Valley of Jordan, based upon camara trap evidence gathered during a survey targeting the Golden Jackal, Canis aureus.
The camera traps were placed on a private farm growing Citrus fruit at Sheikh Hussein, in the north of the Ghor region, between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The boundaries of the farm extend to the Jordan River, where there is an area of wetlands dominated by Common Reeds Phragmites communis, Cattails, Typha domingensis, and Athel Trees, Tamarix aphylla. The area is also home to other wetland Plants, including Sieber’s Wormwood, Artemisia sieberi, Christ’s Thorn Jujube, Ziziphus spina-christi, Arabian Fagonia, Fagonia arabica, and Common Mallow, Malva sylvestris. The area is an important refuge for migratory Birds such as Ducks, Herons, Egrets, and Storks, but is not subject to any form of protection, with the water being affected by herbicide and fertilizer run-off from local farms, and Reed-beds subjected to frequent clearing by farmers who perceive them as a fire-hazard.
Eid and Alayyan placed four camera traps in the Reed beds between June 2020 and 28 February 2022. There were mounted between 40 and 50 cm above the ground, and faced both north and south, to avoid false records during sunrise and sunset. No bait was placed, and the cameras were checked monthly.
During this period, five observations of Jungle Cats were made, with all four cameras making observations. The first observation was made on 12 January 2021 at 12.58 in the afternoon, the second on 17 January 2021 at 9.33 in the evening, the third on 11 April 2021 at 21.35 in the evening, the forth on 3 September 2021 at 10.41 in the evening, and the final observation on 30 January 2022 at 2.12 in the morning.
The camera traps also imaged several other species, including Golden Jackal, Canis aureus, Egyptian Mongoose, Herpestes ichneumon, Wild Boar, Sus scrofa, Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, and numerous Rodents and Birds, as well as four feral Dogs living on the farm.
To the best of Eid and Alayyan's knowledge, this is the first camera trap survey carried out in the Jordan Valley, and has established the presence of the Jungle Cat in Jordan 22 years after the previous record, of dead Animals, although the data gathered was not sufficient to determine the number of Cats in the area.
Despite the heavy agricultural activity in the area, it appears to remain a suitable environment for Jungle Cats, with dense vegetation along riverbeds and an abundant supply of Rodents, the favoured prey of Cats.
Jungle Cats were only observed a very limited time, despite the long duration of the study, although this is at least in part due to the dense vegetation in the study area, which proved a general hindrance to observations, interfering with observations of Animals and producing numerous observations of swaying Plants. However, Eid and Alayyan suggest that it is this dense vegetation which makes the environment suitable for Jungle Cats, which are known to be averse to encounters with Humans.
While Jungle Cats are still persisting in the Jordan Valley, their habitat is threatened by Human activities, with agricultural expansion altering the environment, causing the Reed-beds to fragment and degrade.
During the time when the study was being carried out, a Jungle Cat was also recorded at Al-Mashare’e, about 6 km to the south of the study area, where it became entangled in a Chicken-protection net, being videoed before escaping. Based upon this, Eid and Alayyan propose that a citizen-science approach, in which residents of the Jordan Valley are encouraged to report sightings of Jungle Cats, may reveal more about the presence of, and threats faced by, the species in the region.
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