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Upper pitcher of Nepenthes rigidifolia. © Chíen C. Lee
The work this year has brought to light for the first time
the extreme plight of some of the species surveyed. One such
example is Nepenthes rigidifolia; discovered and described in
2004, this species is Critically Endangered, with less than 12
mature plants remaining in habitat at only a single known
locality. Of all carnivorous plants, Nepenthes rigidifolia may be
the most at risk at present and faces almost certain Extinction
within the next few years, unless urgent measures are taken
to protect the remaining plants and establish an ex-situ
breeding programme.
The CPSG wishes to express its gratitude to the
Environment Agency, Abu Dhabi, without whose generous
support, the field surveys necessary for the work undertaken
this year would not have been possible.
developing capacity in felid conservation; providing services
to members and partners; assuring the financial resources for
the Cat Specialist Group.
2013 was a very busy year; amongst other things, we
reconstituted the Cat SG for the quadrennium 2013–16; we
finalized reports and prepared publications on leopard
surveys in Nakhchivan and north-western Iran, as part of the
implementation of the Regional Conservation Strategy for the
Leopard in the Caucasus Ecoregion. We assessed the
progress of the reintroduction project of Persian Leopards into
the Northern Caucasus; the first two litters were born in the
conservation breeding centre of Sochi in 2013. We
participated in the One Plan workshop for the Arabian Sand
Cat that included a status assessment and the development
of an in-situ and ex-situ action plan. We facilitated a workshop
to develop a National Action Plan for the Critically Endangered
Arabian Leopard in Oman. We attended a meeting of the
Iberlince Life partners (GOs from Portugal, Andalucia,
Extremadura, Castilla la Mancha, and NGOs WWF Spain,
CBD Habitat, IberLinx) to discuss future release sites for the
Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx. This gave the opportunity
to meet the new partners, especial¬ly the delegations from
the environmental agencies of Portugal and the Spanish
provinces. We also attended the third meeting of the Species
Conservation Planning Sub-Committee in Oxford, and
attended the EAZA Felid TAG Meeting at Zoo Leipzig to
strengthen the partnership between the ex-situ and in-situ
community for cats. We initiated capacity development on the
Balkans for the implementation of the Regional Conservation
Strategy for Critically Endangered Balkan Lynx. We are
working with the Cat Classification Task Force to revise the
current taxonomy of the Felidae.
We are currently working on renewing the Cat Specialist
Group website, and we continue to publish two regular issues
of Cat News; Special Issues on Non-Panthera felids in southeast
Asia and Cats in Iran are underway.
We would like to thank the following individuals and
organisations for their partnership and support: Friends of the
Cat Group, Wild Cat Club, Panthera, MAVA Foundation,
Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, Zoo Leipzig,
Forestry Bureau of the Taiwan Council of Agriculture, Parrotia
Stiftung, Fondation Gérard Pierre, Nakuso Stiftung, tierschutz.
ch-Stiftung, Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Fondation Pierre et Nouky
Bataillard, Swiss-Slovak Cooperation Programme, Zoo Al Ain,
Arabian Leopard. © Hadi Al Hikmani
Robert Cantley
Chair, Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group
Cat Specialist Group
The Cat Specialist Group coordinates and supports the
activities of currently 203 leading scientists, nature
conservation officers and wildlife managers who help to
conserve the 37 cat species in 57 countries. The main
objectives of the Chair of the group include; maintaining the
network of cat experts and partners; assessing continuously
the status and conservation needs of the 37 cat species;
supporting governments with strategic conservation planning;
Specialist Groups, Task Forces and Red List Authorities
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