Odours offer new clues in monitoring big cats

Researchers are expanding the toolkit for tracking big cats by turning to odour evidence. Traditional methods such as camera trapping and genetic sampling have proven valuable for estimating population size, density and for identifying individual animals. However, these techniques often fall short when it comes to revealing details about an animal's age, sex, reproductive status or overall health. A recent study highlighted in Mongabay India suggests that analysing urine and scat can provide insights beyond mere presence, potentially filling gaps left by visual and genetic data. By examining chemical signatures in these waste products, scientists hope to infer physiological conditions and demographic information that were previously difficult to obtain in the field. The approach could complement existing monitoring strategies, offering a more nuanced picture of big cat populations across diverse habitats. While the method is still under development, early results indicate that odour analysis may become a practical addition to conservation efforts, especially in remote forest areas where direct observation is limited. What to watch: further validation of scent‑based metrics and integration with camera and DNA surveys.

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This article is AI-generated and fact-gated. Original reporting: Mongabay India