Miss Cellania
8 Obscure but Adorable Wildcat Species
by Miss Cellania - July 15, 2010 - 9:11 AM
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We all know the big cats: lion, tiger, leopard, cheetah, jaguar, and cougar. You are probably also familiar with some smaller wildcats such as the lynx, ocelot, and bobcat. These cats have other cousins that roam the wilds, but we don’t get a look at them as often as the bigger, more famous species.

1. Andean Mountain Cat

The Andean Mountain Cat (Leopardus jacobita) is rarely seen, as its habitat is restricted to the mountains of Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and Chile at altitudes above the tree line. The total estimated population is only about 2500. This cat grows to only about two feet in length, barely larger than a house cat, with a long bushy tail that may provide a useful counterweight for maneuvering around mountains. There are none in captivity. Andean Mountain Cat image by Jim Sanderson via Wikipedia.

2. Pallas’s Cat

The Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul) is also called Manul. It is only about the size of a domestic cat, but appears heavier because of its dense fur. The Pallas’s Cat differs from other cats in that it has round pupils instead of slits and fewer teeth, giving it a relatively flat-faced appearance. The Manul ranges from eastern Europe to Siberia, roaming the higher elevations of the Middle East and Asia. It is thought to be the oldest cat species, evolving about 12 million years ago. Although the Manul are rare, you may be familiar with this cat because of a popular photograph of a poster. You can see many more images at The Pallas’ Cat Project, including pictures of cubs. Pallas’s cat image by Flickr user Winkelbohrer.

3. Margay

The Margay (Leopardus wiedii) resembles an ocelot, but is as small as a domestic house cat. The Margay also has relatively longer legs than an ocelot and is an excellent tree climber. Its territory stretches from Mexico down through Brazil. This near-threatened species is rarely seen, as it hunts only at night and stay hidden in the rain forest. Margay image by Flickr user mottazoo.

4. Fishing Cat

The Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) is native to south and southeast Asia, where it prefers to live near water -the better to find fish, of course! It is the premiere swimmer of the cat family. The Fishing Cat is listed as endangered because its habitat is being destroyed as wetlands are drained for human use, and because it is still hunted in some countries. One Fishing Cat has become an internet meme, as there were many pictures of its apartment life with a Russian couple and a house cat distributed a few years ago. Fishing Cat image by Flickr user cliff1066™.

5. Serval

The Serval (Leptailurus serval) is a three to four foot long African wild cat that is believed to be the ancient ancestor of both the lion and the cheetah. It inhabits the same territory, the African savanna. Servals have small heads and long legs, efficient for chasing prey through the grass. They are also highly intelligent. Servals are the wild cat most often kept as house pets. The large domestic breed Savannah is a cross between a Serval and a domestic cat. Serval image by Flickr user Picture Taker 2.

6. Caracal

The Caracal (Caracal caracal) has a distinctly North American appearance, as if a cougar had interbred with a lynx. It is related to neither, and lives in Africa and Asia. This tall slim cat grows to about three feet in length. The Caracal prefers mountain or desert areas, and can survive without water longer than other cats. Although rarely seen, Caracals are abundant in the wild, and are sometimes kept as pets. Caracal image by Flickr user kibuyu.

7. African Golden Cat

The African Golden Cat (Profelis aurata) is not always golden. In fact, its colors vary widely between individuals, ranging from gold to reddish to gray with distinctive darker markings on some cats and a lighter chest and abdomen. It may also change colors over its life cycle. The Golden Cat is native to the rain forests of equatorial Africa. This rarely-seen cat grows to 30-32 inches long and weighs up to 40 pounds. The Golden Cat is classified as near-threatened.

8. Sand Cat

The Sand Cat (Felis margarita) lives in the deserts of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and western Asia. It is about the size of a domestic cat, with thicker and longer fur. Sand Cats have wide heads and fur growing between the toes, a feature often found in Arctic cats. This serves the same purpose as insulation for the paws against the environment, but keeps the Sand Cat’s feet protected from hot surfaces instead of snow. This cat is listed as threatened, with hunting prohibited in many countries. Sand Cat image by Flickr user Nick Lawes.

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Comments (31)

  1. LOL “the golden cat is naive.” He might be native to the rain forests of equatorial Africa but he is also easily tricked.

    posted by nancy pants on 7-15-2010 at 9:21 am

  2. The natural historian was Pallas, ergo “Pallas’ Cat” or “Pallas’s Cat” depending on your style guide.

    posted by pannonica on 7-15-2010 at 9:39 am

  3. Very cool article. I especially love the link to the couple who keep the Fishing Cat as a pet.

    posted by Emilee on 7-15-2010 at 9:41 am

  4. Thanks, pannonica! The sources I read did it several different ways.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 7-15-2010 at 9:45 am

  5. Wow, very cool! I didn’t know there were so many small wild cats; I tend to picture large cats when I think of cats in the wild.

    posted by Craig on 7-15-2010 at 10:05 am

  6. These cats are so amazing! I will definitely forward this list out to some friends.

    posted by Bobby on 7-15-2010 at 10:33 am

  7. The link to the couple who keep/kept the Fishing Cat as a pet isn’t working for me. It just loads a white page..

    posted by Laura W on 7-15-2010 at 10:48 am

  8. That Russian couple who has the Fishing Cat…MY LORD. They really let it kill chickens in their apartment? What a clean up!

    posted by Katie Rose on 7-15-2010 at 10:56 am

  9. Aww, andean mountain cat is so cute!!

    posted by Mimi on 7-15-2010 at 10:59 am

  10. The San Diego Zoo actually has many of these cats in their collection. I know for a fact that they have the Pallas Cat, the Fishing Cat and the Caracal. I think they may have a Serval and a Margay as well.

    I remember the Fishing Cat the best. It’s down an area known as Tiger River, and when it was out of its den we would sit in front of its cage and watch it for hours. They are really beautiful in person.

    posted by Sam on 7-15-2010 at 11:00 am

  11. Awww, kitties! I know several places where you can see some of these cats, if anyone’s interested. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs has a pair of fishing cats, and you can see servals and caracals (as well as many big cats, a coatimundi, and a binturong) at Serenity Springs Wildlife Center near Colorado Springs (http://www.serenityspringswildlife.org/)- they even let guests pet a caracal while I was there, and I was fortunate to be there while they were doing a fundraiser, where visitors could pay to hold a baby tiger and get a souvenir picture taken.

    The Wildlife Sanctuary near Denver (http://www.wildanimalsanctuary.org/) also houses many big cats, servals, bears, wolves, emus, and other exotic animals.

    And I remember seeing sand cats at the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago – they were adorable, they looked like house cat-sized lions!

    posted by Jina on 7-15-2010 at 11:24 am

  12. If I saw the Pallas’ cat, I would just think that was somebody’s cat. Doesn’t really resemble a wild animal in my head at all. Some of those others are more like a small version of something very scary.

    posted by Dave on 7-15-2010 at 11:47 am

  13. That is awesome the Andean Mountain Cat has not been captive. Good for him!!

    Several of them, if I seen them in the wild, look like house cats. Palla’s cat looks like a fat house cat.

    posted by Dan on 7-15-2010 at 11:52 am

  14. Thanks for the article. How beautiful are these cats, from the cute Margay to the regal African Gold Cat!

    posted by Shash on 7-15-2010 at 12:00 pm

  15. The Pallas cat is my favorite animal ever. Being a cat person with the curse of a cat allergy, I decided to adopt the Pallas Cat at the Columbus Zoo. I had the opportunity to talk one of the handlers who said that he would rather go in with the tigers any day. Apparently the tigers can ignore people, the Pallas cats perceive them as a threat and get territorial. Sometimes when I go to visit, the male will pick a person from the crowd and follow them back and forth across the exhibit, baring his teeth and vocalizing at them…

    posted by coramandragora on 7-15-2010 at 12:19 pm

  16. The Iriomote cat is a good one too: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iriomote_Cat

    posted by T on 7-15-2010 at 1:51 pm

  17. The Pallas cat needs to be sitting on an evil villain’s lap somewhere in a hidden lair. When I look at that picture, I can hear the cat saying, “Mwaa Haa ha!” Then he beats up Inspector Gadget and James Bond at the same time.

    posted by Eric on 7-15-2010 at 2:07 pm

  18. I’m afraid that my cats will see these and get delusions of grandeur…

    Great article!

    posted by M the Ailurophile on 7-15-2010 at 2:31 pm

  19. I got to see a serval a few years ago–someone had one illegally and it was at our local small zoo before being moved to a zoo that could care for him properly. He was beautiful.

    posted by Anne on 7-15-2010 at 3:20 pm

  20. Andean Mountain Cat looks like he/she just got caught doing something he/she was not supposed to be doing. Much like the look on a housecat! Also the Denver Zoo has some beautiful Servals who, in my experience, will actually sort of pose for pictures in their enclosure.

    posted by BorgQueen on 7-15-2010 at 4:37 pm

  21. what about the Scottish wild cat. Had the opertunity to see them at a zoo and the only way to tell they are not someones tabby is the size of the head and tail. Biggest problem is they can bread with domestic cats and produce fertile offspring. over all a big fan of the small cats! tigers and lions get all the press, but the small cats are really special!

    posted by liz on 7-15-2010 at 9:20 pm

  22. The Scottish wild cat was one I considered but skipped because I couldn’t find a decent picture to use. There is always some trimming in these lists, or else they would go one forever.

    posted by Miss Cellania on 7-15-2010 at 10:33 pm

  23. The sand cat is awesome!

    posted by Q Smith on 7-16-2010 at 12:33 am

  24. The BigCatRescue has a great youtube page with info on many of these animals too. Agreeing with them that most wild cats do not make good pets though, a friend worked at a zoo and had a serval out on a leash to show me one day, she tried to chew the silicon bracelet I had on, and even though the servals are somewhat small, they have some big teeth and claws!

    ( http://www.youtube.com/user/BigCatRescue )

    posted by IM on 7-16-2010 at 1:14 pm

  25. Wonder if any of them purr?

    posted by Rose on 7-17-2010 at 11:46 am

  26. IM, are you sure she wasn’t trying to chew through your WRIST?

    posted by Miss Cellania on 7-17-2010 at 1:30 pm

  27. So these are the names of the next 8 versions of OS X?

    posted by Jatix on 7-20-2010 at 2:54 am

  28. I worked back in a Peru rainforest reserve as a resident naturalist back in the early 90′s. We found an orphaned margay, and it was my job to try and rear the thing…. in particular try to teach to hunt. This involved running through the forest rather fast with a chicken head on the end of a string.

    Bloody thing used to lurk in tree branches unseen and land on my head. They have sharp claws. Ouch.

    posted by Jenix on 7-20-2010 at 2:55 am

  29. Yes it is. New species can offshoot from pockets of a certain breed, while groups of said base species remain in areas that go relatively unchanged over longer periods of time. In this respect, the offshoots will change more rapidly to suit their changing environment, while the base species changes far less.

    So yes, it can be an ancestor off the Lion and Cheetah if they have sufficient reason to believe that the Serval was around before either other cat, and has strong genetic ties.

    posted by Tenni on 7-20-2010 at 2:56 am

  30. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to die happy until I pet these cats.. I’m thinking I need to get to Banton Oregon to do that..

    posted by Jacob Calles on 7-23-2010 at 4:20 am

  31. The sand cat needs to have some serious species rescue programs in place so they become abundant…then I will be able to have one as a pet. Damn they’re cute!

    posted by Jill Harness on 3-30-2011 at 2:14 pm

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