Across India, camera traps are doing what people often cannot do, wait without disturbance and record wildlife without bias.

They are revealing rare animals moving through familiar forests, and species appearing where they were once thought absent. Most images are grainy, often taken at night, but together they point to a larger story of adaptation.

Here is what camera traps have uncovered across India over the last five years.

April 2026 — Rusty-Spotted Cat recorded in MP

In April 2026, a camera trap in the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve captured a fleeting image of the rusty-spotted cat — the world’s smallest wild feline.

The image marked the first confirmed record of the species in the reserve. It came from a large-scale survey (February–March 2024) by the Madhya Pradesh Forest Department and WWF-India, originally aimed at estimating tiger populations.

Barely the size of a kitten, the species was long thought confined to southern India. Recent camera-trap evidence shows it is far more widespread, now recorded across central and northern regions.

March 2026 — Caracal confirmed in Jaisalmer

In the arid stretches of Jaisalmer’s border belt, camera traps confirmed three caracals — a rare wild cat known for its tufted ears and powerful leaps.

Once close to disappearing from its historical range in India, the species is seldom seen. The images also identified two previously unknown individuals, strengthening the case for focused conservation.

Locally known as “Padang,” the endangered caracal occasionally preys on sheep and goats.

January 24, 2026 — Asiatic Wildcat recorded near Aravallis

On January 24, 2026, a........

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