Abstract
<jats:p>Small-bodied mammals are often disproportionately affected by anthropogenic landscape modification, yet their habitat ecology and connectivity constraints remain poorly understood at broad spatial scales. The rusty-spotted cat (Prionailurus rubiginosus), the world’s smallest wild felid, is distributed widely across the Indian subcontinent, but its limited dispersal capacity enhances vulnerability to population isolation in increasingly human-dominated landscapes. The extent to which landscape permeability and biotic interactions shape range-wide connectivity has not been systematically evaluated. In this study, we address these gaps by developing a high-resolution ensemble species distribution model that incorporates both environmental predictors and potential interspecific interactions with other sympatric small carnivores. We further applied circuit theory–based connectivity analysis to map potential movement pathways across the species’ mainland range. Among the distribution modelling algorithms used, random forest performed best, with forest cover, bioclimatic variables, and small carnivore richness emerging as the strongest predictors of habitat suitability. Connectivity analysis identified three major habitat clusters as strongholds of this feline, the Terai Arc Landscape, Central India, and the Western Ghats, while identifying multiple connectivity bottlenecks that may restrict dispersal and gene flow between these regions. Our findings provide a spatially explicit framework for prioritising corridor protection beyond existing protected area networks, and underscore the urgent need for landscape-scale surveys to estimate population size and movement parameters for this poorly studied species.</jats:p>