The leopard cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis'') is a
small wild cat native to continental
South
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sun ...
,
Southeast
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...
, and
East Asia
East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The modern states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. China, North Korea, South Korea and ...
. Since 2002 it has been listed as
Least Concern
A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List as it is widely distributed although threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range.
Historically, the leopard cat of continental Asia was considered the same
species as the
Sunda leopard cat. As of 2017, the latter is recognised as a distinct species, with the
taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. A ...
name ''Prionailurus javanensis''.
Leopard cat
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
differ widely in fur colour, tail length, skull shape and size of
carnassials.
Archaeological evidence indicates that the leopard cat was the first cat species domesticated in
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
China about 5,000 years ago in
Shaanxi and
Henan Province
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
s.
Characteristics

A leopard cat is about the size of a
domestic cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
, but more slender, with longer legs and well-defined webs between its toes. Its small head is marked with two prominent dark stripes and a short and narrow white muzzle. There are two dark stripes running from the eyes to the ears and smaller white streaks running from the eyes to the nose. The backs of its moderately long and rounded ears are black with central white spots. Body and limbs are marked with black spots of varying size and colour, and along its back are two to four rows of elongated spots. The tail is about half the size of its head-body length and is spotted with a few indistinct rings near the black tip. The background colour of the spotted fur is tawny, with a white chest and belly. However, in their huge range, they vary so much in colouration and size of spots as well as in body size and weight that initially they were thought to be several different
species. The fur colour is yellowish brown in the southern populations, but pale silver-grey in the northern ones. The black markings may be spotted,
rosette
Rosette is the French diminutive of ''rose''. It may refer to:
Flower shaped designs
* Rosette (award), a mark awarded by an organisation
* Rosette (design), a small flower design
*hence, various flower-shaped or rotational symmetric forms:
** ...
d, or may even form dotted streaks, depending on subspecies. In the
tropics
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred ...
, leopard cats weigh , have head-body lengths of , with long tails. In northern China and
Siberia
Siberia ( ; rus, Сибирь, r=Sibir', p=sʲɪˈbʲirʲ, a=Ru-Сибирь.ogg) is an extensive geographical region, constituting all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has been a part of ...
, they weigh up to , and have head-body lengths of up to ; generally, they put on weight before winter and become thinner until spring.
Shoulder height is about .
Taxonomy

''Felis bengalensis'' was the
scientific name
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
proposed by
Robert Kerr in 1792 for a leopard cat from
Bengal. In the subsequent decades, 20 more leopard cat
specimens were described and named, including:
* ''Felis nipalensis'' (
Horsfield &
Vigors, 1829) from Nepal
* ''Felis chinensis'' (
Gray
Grey (more common in British English) or gray (more common in American English) is an intermediate color between black and white. It is a neutral or achromatic color, meaning literally that it is "without color", because it can be composed ...
, 1837) from
Canton Province, China
* ''Leopardus ellioti'' (Gray, 1842) from the area of
Bombay Presidency
The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mai ...
* ''Felis horsfieldi'' (Gray, 1842) from
Bhutan
Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...
* ''Felis wagati'' (Gray, 1867) and ''Felis tenasserimensis'' (Gray, 1867) from
Tenasserim
* ''Felis microtis'' (
Milne-Edwards Milne-Edwards is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Henri Milne-Edwards (1800–1885), French zoologist
* Alphonse Milne-Edwards
Alphonse Milne-Edwards (Paris, 13 October 1835 – Paris, 21 April 1900) was a French mammalogist ...
, 1872) from the
Peking
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
area; and also from
Tsushima Island.
* ''Felis euptilura'' (
Elliot
Elliot (also spelled Eliot, Elliotte, Elliott, Eliott and Elyot) is a personal name which can serve as either a surname or a given name. Although the given name has historically been given to males, females have increasingly been given the name ...
, 1871) based on two skins from Siberia. One was depicted in
Gustav Radde's illustration cum description of a wild cat; the other was part of a collection at the
Regent's Park Zoo. The ground colour of both was light brownish-yellow, strongly mixed with grey and covered with reddish-brown spots, head grey with a dark-red stripe across the cheek. The initial binomial ''euptilura'' given by Elliott has been incorrectly changed to "''euptilurus''" by some later authors, but under the
International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) is a widely accepted convention in zoology that rules the formal scientific naming of organisms treated as animals. It is also informally known as the ICZN Code, for its publisher, the ...
Article 31.2.1, nouns and noun phrases are not subject to gender agreement; at present, both terms appear in use, but only the spelling "''euptilura''" is correct.
* ''Felis manchurica'' (
Mori, 1922) from the vicinity of
Mukden
Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provi ...
in Manchuria was a light grey spotted skin.
In 1939,
Reginald Innes Pocock
Reginald Innes Pocock F.R.S. (4 March 1863 – 9 August 1947) was a British zoologist.
Pocock was born in Clifton, Bristol, the fourth son of Rev. Nicholas Pocock and Edith Prichard. He began showing interest in natural history at St. Edwar ...
subordinated them to the genus ''
Prionailurus
''Prionailurus'' is a genus of spotted, small wild cats native to Asia. Forests are their preferred habitat; they feed on small mammals, reptiles and birds, and occasionally aquatic wildlife.
Taxonomy
''Prionailurus'' was first proposed by ...
''. The collection of the
Natural History Museum, London comprised several skulls and large numbers of skins of leopard cats from various regions. Based on this broad variety of skins, he proposed to differentiate between a southern
subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
''P. bengalensis bengalensis'' from warmer
latitude
In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole ...
s to the west and east of the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean, bounded on the west and northwest by India, on the north by Bangladesh, and on the east by Myanmar and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India. Its southern limit is a line between ...
, and a northern ''P. bengalensis horsfieldi'' from the
Himalayas, having a fuller winter coat than the southern. His description of leopard cats from the areas of
Gilgit
Gilgit (; Shina: ; ur, ) is the capital city of Gilgit–Baltistan, Pakistan. The city is located in a broad valley near the confluence of the Gilgit River and the Hunza River. It is a major tourist destination in Pakistan, serving as a ...
and
Karachi
Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former c ...
under the
trinomen
In biology, trinomial nomenclature refers to names for taxa below the rank of species. These names have three parts. The usage is different in zoology and botany.
In zoology
In zoological nomenclature, a trinomen (), trinominal name, or ternary ...
''Prionailurus bengalensis trevelyani'' is based on seven skins that had longer, paler and more greyish fur than those from the Himalayas. He assumed that ''trevelyani'' inhabits more rocky, less forested habitats than ''bengalensis'' and ''horsfieldi''.
Two more subspecies were proposed and described:
* ''P. b. alleni'' (
Sody, 1949) from
Hainan
Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly ...
Island
*
Iriomote cat
The Iriomote cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis iriomotensis'') is a subspecies of the leopard cat that lives exclusively on the Japanese island of Iriomote. It has been listed as critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2008, as the only ...
''P. b. iriomotensis'' (Imaizumi, 1967) from the island of
Iriomote, one of the
Ryukyu Islands in the
Japanese Archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East C ...
;
Initially, the Iriomote cat was recognised as a distinct species, but following
mtDNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
analysis in the 1990s was considered a leopard cat subspecies.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the Russian zoologists Geptner, Gromov and Baranova disagreed with this classification. They emphasized the differences of skins and skulls at their disposal and the ones originating in Southeast Asia, and coined the term Amur forest cat, which they regarded as a distinct species. In 1987, Chinese zoologists pointed out the affinity of leopard cats from northern China, Amur cats and leopard cats from southern latitudes. In view of the
morphological similarities they did not support classifying the Amur cat as a species.
Molecular analysis of 39 leopard cat tissue samples clearly showed three
clades: a northern lineage and southern lineages 1 and 2. The northern lineage comprises leopard cats from
Tsushima Islands, the
Korean Peninsula
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...
, the continental
Far East
The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons.
The te ...
, Taiwan, and
Iriomote Island. Southern lineage 1, comprising Southeast Asian populations, showed higher
genetic diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species. It is dis ...
. Southern lineage 2 is genetically distant from the other lineages.
Following a revision of Felidae taxonomy in 2017, two leopard cat
species are now recognised, based on molecular analyses, morphological differences, and biogeographic separation:
[
* the mainland leopard cat (''P. bengalensis'') is widely distributed on mainland Asia, from Pakistan to Southeast Asia, China, and the ]Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...
.
* the Sunda leopard cat (''P. javanensis'') is native to Java, Bali, Borneo, Sumatra, Palawan, Negros, Cebu, Panay, and possibly the Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula (Malay: ''Semenanjung Tanah Melayu'') is a peninsula in Mainland Southeast Asia. The landmass runs approximately north–south, and at its terminus, it is the southernmost point of the Asian continental mainland. The area ...
.
Two mainland leopard cat subspecies are currently recognised:[
* ''P. b. bengalensis'' (Kerr, 1792) ranges in South and East Asia, from Pakistan to China, and probably the Malay Peninsula; and
* ''P. b. euptilura'' (Elliott, 1871) is native to the Russian Far East, Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan, Iriomote and Tsushima Islands.
]
Phylogeny
Phylogenetic
In biology, phylogenetics (; from Greek φυλή/ φῦλον [] "tribe, clan, race", and wikt:γενετικός, γενετικός [] "origin, source, birth") is the study of the evolutionary history and relationships among or within groups o ...
analysis of the nuclear DNA
Nuclear DNA (nDNA), or nuclear deoxyribonucleic acid, is the DNA contained within each cell nucleus of a eukaryotic organism. It encodes for the majority of the genome in eukaryotes, with mitochondrial DNA and plastid DNA coding for the rest. I ...
in tissue samples from all Felidae species revealed that the evolutionary radiation
An evolutionary radiation is an increase in taxonomic diversity that is caused by elevated rates of speciation, that may or may not be associated with an increase in morphological disparity. Radiations may affect one clade or many, and be rapi ...
of the Felidae began in Asia in the Miocene around . Analysis of mitochondrial DNA
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...
of all Felidae species indicates a radiation at around .
The ''Prionailurus'' species are estimated to have had a common ancestor
Common descent is a concept in evolutionary biology applicable when one species is the ancestor of two or more species later in time. All living beings are in fact descendants of a unique ancestor commonly referred to as the last universal com ...
between ,[ and .][
Both models agree in the rusty-spotted cat (''P. rubiginosus'') having been the first cat of this ]evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation te ...
ary lineage that genetically diverged, followed by the flat-headed cat (''P. planiceps'') and then the fishing cat (''P. viverrinus'').[ It is estimated to have diverged together with the leopard cat between ][ and .][
The following ]cladogram
A cladogram (from Greek ''clados'' "branch" and ''gramma'' "character") is a diagram used in cladistics to show relations among organisms. A cladogram is not, however, an evolutionary tree because it does not show how ancestors are related to d ...
shows the phylogenetic relationships of the leopard cat as derived through analysis of nuclear DNA:[
]
Distribution and habitat
The leopard cat is the most widely distributed Asian small wild cat. Its range extends from the Amur region in the Russian Far East
The Russian Far East (russian: Дальний Восток России, r=Dal'niy Vostok Rossii, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in Northeast Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asian continent; and is admin ...
over the Korean Peninsula
Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic of ...
, China, Indochina
Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west a ...
, the Indian Subcontinent to northern Pakistan
Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...
. It lives in tropical evergreen rainforests and plantations at sea level, in subtropical deciduous and coniferous forest
Conifers are a group of cone-bearing seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a single extant class, Pinopsida. All exta ...
s in the foothills of the Himalayas at elevations above .[ It is able to tolerate human-modified landscapes with vegetation cover to some degree, and inhabits agriculturally used areas such as ]oil palm
''Elaeis'' () is a genus of palms containing two species, called oil palms. They are used in commercial agriculture in the production of palm oil. The African oil palm '' Elaeis guineensis'' (the species name ''guineensis'' referring to its c ...
and sugar cane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with stout, jointed, fibrous stalks t ...
plantations.
In 2009, a leopard cat was recorded by a camera trap
A camera trap is a camera that is automatically triggered by a change in some activity in its vicinity, like presence of an animal or a human being. It is typically equipped with a motion sensor – usually a passive infrared sensor, passi ...
in Nepal's Makalu-Barun National Park at an altitude of . At least six individuals inhabit the survey area, which is dominated by associations of rhododendron
''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are n ...
, oak
An oak is a tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' (; Latin "oak tree") of the beech family, Fagaceae. There are approximately 500 extant species of oaks. The common name "oak" also appears in the names of species in related genera, notably ...
and maple
''Acer'' () is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated since ht ...
. The highest elevation record was obtained in September 2012 at in the Kanchenjunga Conservation Area.
In the northeast of its range it lives close to rivers, valleys and in ravine
A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.[Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is border ...](_blank)
, it was reported in the 1970s from Jalalkot and Norgul in the Kunar Valley, and the Waygul forest of Dare Pech.
In Thailand's Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary, 20 leopard cats were radio-collared between 1999 and 2003. Home ranges of males ranged from to , and of the six females from to .
In China, it was recorded in the Changqing National Nature Reserve in the Qinling
The Qinling () or Qin Mountains, formerly known as the Nanshan ("Southern Mountains"), are a major east–west mountain range in southern Shaanxi Province, China. The mountains mark the divide between the drainage basins of the Yangtze and Yellow ...
Mountains, in the Tangjiahe National Nature Reserve in the Min Mountains, in Wolong Nature Reserve and other protected areas in the Qionglai Mountains and Daliang Mountains between 2002 and 2008.
In the Japanese archipelago
The Japanese archipelago (Japanese: 日本列島, ''Nihon rettō'') is a group of 6,852 islands that form the country of Japan, as well as the Russian island of Sakhalin. It extends over from the Sea of Okhotsk in the northeast to the East C ...
, the leopard cat is currently restricted to the islands of Iriomote and Tsushima.[Ministry of the Environment, Tsushima Wildlife Conservation Center (2005)]
''National Endangered Species Tsushima Leopard Cat - English Version''
. Fossils excavated dating to the Pleistocene period suggest a broader distribution in the past.
Ecology and behaviour
Leopard cats are solitary
Solitary is the state of being alone or in solitude. The term may refer to:
* shortened form of solitary confinement
* Solitary animal, an animal that does not live with others in its species
* Solitary but social, a type of social organization ...
, except during the breeding season. Some are active during the day, but most hunt at night, preferring to stalk murids, tree shrew
The treeshrews (or tree shrews or banxrings) are small mammals native to the tropical forests of South and Southeast Asia. They make up the entire order Scandentia, which split into two families: the Tupaiidae (19 species, "ordinary" treeshrew ...
s and hare
Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores, and live solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are able to fend for themselves shortly after birth. The ge ...
s. They are agile climbers and quite arboreal in their habits. They rest in trees, but also hide in dense thorny undergrowth on the ground. There, leopard cats feed on a large proportion of rats compared to forested areas.
Leopard cats can swim, but seldom do so. They produce a similar range of vocalisations to the domestic cat. Both sexes scent mark their territory by spraying urine, leaving faeces in exposed locations, head rubbing, and scratching.[
]
Diet
Leopard cats are carnivorous, feeding on a variety of small prey including mammals, lizards, amphibians, birds and insects. In most parts of their range, small rodents such as rats and mice form the major part of their diet, which is often supplemented with grass, eggs, poultry, and aquatic prey. They are active hunters, dispatching their prey with a rapid pounce and bite. Unlike many other small cats, they do not "play" with their food, maintaining a tight grip with their claws until the animal is dead. This may be related to the relatively high proportion of birds in their diet, which are more likely to escape when released than are rodents.[
]
Reproduction and development
The breeding season of leopard cats varies depending on climate. In tropical habitats, kittens are born throughout the year. In colder habitats farther north, females give birth in spring. Their gestation
Gestation is the period of development during the carrying of an embryo, and later fetus, inside viviparous animals (the embryo develops within the parent). It is typical for mammals, but also occurs for some non-mammals. Mammals during pregnan ...
period lasts 60–70 days. Litter size varies between two and three kittens. Captive born kittens weighed at birth and opened their eyes by latest 15 days of age. Within two weeks, they doubled their weight and were four times their birth weight at the age of five weeks. At the age of four weeks, their permanent canines break through, and they begin to eat meat. Captive females reach sexual maturity
Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definit ...
earliest at the age of one year and have their first litter at the age of 13 to 14 months. Captive leopard cats have lived for up to thirteen years.[
The ]estrus
The estrous cycle (, originally ) is the set of recurring physiological changes that are induced by reproductive hormones in most mammalian therian females. Estrous cycles start after sexual maturity in females and are interrupted by anestrous p ...
period lasts five to nine days.
Threats
In China, leopard cats are hunted mainly for their fur. Between 1984 and 1989, about 200,000 skins were exported yearly. A survey carried out in 1989 among major fur traders revealed more than 800,000 skins on stock. Since the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
imposed an import ban in 1988, Japan has become the main importing country, and received 50,000 skins in 1989. Although commercial trade is much reduced, the leopard cat continues to be hunted throughout most of its range for fur, food, and for sale as a pet. It is widely viewed as a poultry thief and killed in retribution.
In Myanmar, 483 body parts of at least 443 individuals were observed in four markets surveyed between 1991 and 2006. Numbers were significantly larger than non-threatened species. Three of the surveyed markets are situated on international borders with China and Thailand, and cater to international buyers, although the leopard cat is completely protected under Myanmar's national legislation. Implementation and enforcement of CITES is considered inadequate.
Conservation
''Prionailurus bengalensis'' is listed in CITES Appendix II. In Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta ...
, the species is protected under the Wild Animals Protection Ordinance Cap 170. The population is well over 50,000 individuals and, although declining, the cat is not endangered.
The Tsushima leopard cat is listed as Critically Endangered on the Japanese Red List of Endangered Species, and has been the focus of a conservation program funded by the Japanese government since 1995.[Murayama, A. (2008)]
''The Tsushima Leopard Cat (''Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura''): Population Viability Analysis and Conservation Strategy''
. MSc thesis in Conservation Science. Imperial College London.
In the United States, ''P. bengalensis'' is listed as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act since 1976; except under permit, it is prohibited to import, export, sell, purchase and transport leopard cats in interstate commerce. A permit is required for the import or exportation of the Asian Leopard cat. Those who import/export without a CITES permit face large fines.
Leopard cats and hybrids as pets
Fossil
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...
remains of leopard cats were excavated at Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several part ...
villages in Central China in 2001. Radiometric dating of these bones showed that they are at least 5,000 years old. These findings indicate that the leopard cat was a human commensal or domesticate
Domestication is a sustained multi-generational relationship in which humans assume a significant degree of control over the reproduction and care of another group of organisms to secure a more predictable supply of resources from that group. A ...
d in Neolithic China
This is a list of Neolithic cultures of China that have been unearthed by archaeologists. They are sorted in chronological order from earliest to latest and are followed by a schematic visualization of these cultures.
It would seem that the defin ...
. They were later replaced with domestic cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of t ...
s that originated in the Middle East, some time before the Tang Dynasty.
The Bengal cat is a cross breed between the leopard cat and the domestic cat. It was introduced to cat shows in the 1970s. The fifth generation is marked like a leopard cat. This hybrid is usually permitted to be kept as a pet without a license. The founding parents from the F1–F3 generations of breeding are usually reserved for breeding stock purposes or the specialty-pet home environment.
Explanatory notes
References
External links
*
{{Taxonbar, from=Q42627
Carnivorans of Malaysia
Felids of Asia
Mammals described in 1792
Mammals of Bangladesh
Mammals of Bhutan
Mammals of Cambodia
Mammals of China
Mammals of India
Mammals of Japan
Mammals of Korea
Mammals of Laos
Mammals of Nepal
Mammals of Pakistan
Mammals of Russia
Mammals of Singapore
Mammals of Taiwan
Mammals of Thailand
Mammals of Vietnam
Prionailurus