Having nurtured the kitten successfully through their infancy days, SGNP officials now hope to breed the animals in captivity.

Found only in India and Sri Lanka, the rustys are "vulnerable species considered to be facing a high risk of extinction in the wild" according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) endangered animals' list. Weighing a maximum weight of 1.5 kg and between 35 and 48 cm body length, they are smaller albeit fiercer than their lesser cousins, the do mestic cats.

Says Dr Kishore Batwe, SGNP veterinarian, "The female was found in Tungareshwar in November 2005, abandoned by their mother. She was around three weeks old and the chances of saving her looked bleak. But we decided to try".

A few months later the cub had company. Another male cub was rescued in August 2006 from the Yeoor forest.

Soon the couple got a name - Sachin and Anjali (like the Tendulkar couple, the female is older).

Batwe admires animal keeper Mukesh More's hard work in rearing the cats. "He treated them as his children. At nights he'd stay awake to feed them every two hours. For warmth, he placed a 60-watt bulb next to them," he says.

The doctor says usually it's not easy to save wild cubs. But Sachin and Anjali had received enough mother feed to develop resistance.

However, More remembers how Anjali fought death twice. "Once her body temperature dropped from the normal 101.5 degree Fahrenheit to 95 degrees.

We had to perch her atop a hot water bag for warmth. Medicines were given with a syringe. But after three weeks, she recovered and began having milk, chicken soup and shredded chicken," he says.

The wild rustys' staple diet is insects, reptiles and small birds, but their captive food is mostly chicken, says Batwe, who has corresponded with zoos worldwide to learn about the animal.

Today the cats are fit and active.

Their diminutive looks are deceptive: they hiss, spit and bring out their claws when you get close. And they don't mew.

"These cats can tear you to shreds," warns Batwe. Although some have been domesticated in the past, they are violent predators by nature.

The park has built the rustys a cozy enclosure, complete with branches to sharpen their claws, and a retiring room made with bamboo where these nocturnal animals can rest on day break. "We now want to add behaviour enrichment props," explains Batwe.

The doctor has more plans for the animals: "We are waiting for the pair to mate. Considering that they are high risk animals, we'd like to raise their cubs here".

Dr P N Munde, SGNP conservator, says, "The animals are not for display.

We have to get permission from the CZA and the wildlife department to display them. As of now we are only focusing on conservation".

More has an anecdote: "A few months ago, I took Anjali home in a cage and placed her in my room. Suddenly, there were over a dozen rats scrambling out of their hiding places, all trying to run for their lives. Such is the preying skill of this cat," he says.