Though the species is also found in proximity to human habitation (Worah 1991, Nowell and Jackson 1996, Mukherjee 1998, Nekaris 2003), preliminary results of a study using niche models and known Rusty-spotted Cat locations within India (Figure 1 in Supplementary Material), suggests that at a broad scale this cat’s distribution is limited by large contiguous tracts of hostile habitat, specifically intensive, irrigated agriculture (Silva et al. 2015). These results were a consensus of four models that incorporated land cover, bioclimatic variables and disturbance measures with 61 location points of the species. The analysis also shows that prime habitat for this species occurs in three broad regions within the country, indicative of a fragmented population (Silva et al. 2015). These prime regions correspond with dry and moist deciduous forests showing relatively low forest fragmentation according to landuse and land cover maps for India (Roy et al. 2012).

There are recent records of the Rusty-spotted Cat from the Central Highlands of Sri Lanka in small, mostly isolated forest patches (<5 km²) interspersed with tea estates but it is not known if the species occurs in or uses the tea plantation areas (Andrew Kittle in litt. 2016).

A few observations suggest that the species preys on rodents (Kunal Patel and Vidya Athreya in litt.).

The Rusty-spotted Cat was earlier believed to be restricted to India and Sri Lanka but recent photographic records show its presence in Bardia National Park, Nepal (Ramjan Choudhary and Rabin Kadariya in litt. 2014), bordering India. Its geographical distribution is as yet not clearly documented but recent locality records suggest it is more widespread than earlier believed (Chakraborty 1978, Phillips 1984, Wright 1984, Miththapala 2006, Athreya 2010, Mukherjee et al. 2010, Anwar et al. 2012, Raza Kazmi in litt. 2012, Jugal Tiwari in litt. 2013, Anonymous 2013, Dharmendra Khandal in litt. 2013, Pankaj Koparde and Gaurang Gowande in litt. 2013, Ramjan Choudhary and Rabin Kadariya in litt. 2014, Andrew Kittle in litt. 2014). Nevertheless it has a relatively restricted global distribution for a cat and little is known of its ecology or local abundance (Nowell and Jackson 1996, Sunquist and Sunquist 2002). Within India the distribution of this species is similar to, though far more restricted than, the Jungle Cat Felis chaus (Mukherjee and Koparde in prep.).

The Indian population is included on CITES Appendix I, while the Sri Lanka and Nepal populations are included on CITES Appendix II. The species is fully protected over most of its range, with hunting and trade banned in India and Sri Lanka, although domestic trade was largely uncontrolled in Sri Lanka 20 years ago (Nowell and Jackson 1996); no more recent information has been traced. The occurrence of the species in Nepal has only very recently been documented and perhaps it does not figure specifically in conservation laws of the country. It occurs in a number of protected areas, including Yala National Park in Sri Lanka (Nekaris 2003, Kittle and Watson 2004), Wilpattu National Park, Sri Lanka (Andrew Kittle in litt. 2016), the Gir National Park (Pathank 1990), Sariska Tiger Reserve (Mukherjee 1998), Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve (Dharmendra Khandal in litt.), Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve and Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve (Dubey 1999) among many others, in India.

Reflecting the uncertainty of this assessment, the species should be prioritised for research and monitoring, in particular to clarify which of the various potential threats truly are problematic.