Siberian
Environmental Center
P.O. Box 547, Novosibirsk
Russia, 630090
+7-383-328-30-26
manul-project@yandex.ru

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Last updated:
December 10, 2011

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MANUL STUDIES

Pallas cat study in the State Nature Biosphere Reserve "Daursky"
(Transbaikal Region, Russia)

The State Biosphere Nature Reserve "Daursky" started studying manuls back in 1990. Vadim Kiriliuk, a scientist, was appointed to work on the project. The studies focused on the number and the habitat of the Pallas Cat, as well as its nutrition, in the South-Eastern Transbaikalie. The result of the research can be found in the Articles section of our website. After that for a long time manul wasn't studied in that region. Also, the manul population declined noticeably. Since 2006, the radiotelemetry research is being conducted in the reserve.

This method allows to define how manuls use their territory, the way they move around during the year, in different seasons and different periods of its life, where the cats usually hunt and where make their den. To conduct the research, a radio collar is put on the cat. Then, with the help of special equipment, scientists search for the manul using the radio signal to find out where the animal is at the moment.

The first manul to get the radio collar on its neck was a female tenderly named Masha. In spring of 2007 she gave birth to kittens. The area inspectors considered themselves lucky to be able to climb towards the crack in the cliff to cast a look at the cute kittens.

At the moment some manuls have been caught to become an object of the research. We, too, joined the project. As a result we got better understanding of how Pallas Cats behave in the wild. Here are some examples:

In the beginning of the summer, 2008, the observations were performed by university students. They were interested to know where the cat lives when she nourishes her kittens. One female made her den right under the floor of the abandoned cattle-breeder camp, which made it quite convenient for the students to watch her from inside the building. Unfortunately, they worked only for a short period of time, but nevertheless managed to make some interesting observations. For example, it turned out that despite the wide-spread opinion of manuls as night animals, the mamma cat went hunting only during the day, staying for the night with her kittens. In 2009 the research of the manul maternal behavior will resume.

Read about the manul study in the Daursky reserve in 2009