‘Grumpiest cat’ takes over Ladakh home with 3 kittens; family moves out

Image: Puskar Basu/ Discover Wildlife A remarkably elusive Pallas's cat has chosen an unexpected nursery in the high-altitude village of Hanle in Ladakh. The female entered a local couple's home through an open window and settled there with three kittens. Farmer Tsering Topgyal and his wife, Palmo, alerted the Forest Department after discovering the wild cat and her young. Rather than disturbing them, the couple reportedly left their house and stayed with relatives elsewhere in the village while the mother raised her kittens. Wildlife photographer Puskar Basu later spent four weeks observing the female from a hide outside the barricaded property. He documented an unusual encounter between one of the Himalayas' most secretive small cats and a human settlement.A wild cat moves into a Ladakh couple’s home with 3 kittensThe encounter happened in Hanle, a remote village at about 4,500 metres above sea level. The settlement lies amid a stark Trans-Himalayan landscape of rocky slopes, marshes and snow-fed streams. Despite its harsh appearance, the area supports wolves, foxes, marmots, pikas, raptors and the elusive Pallas's cat.According to Basu's account in Discover Wildlife, Tsering and...