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| Scientific Name: Prionailurus bengalensis
iriomotensis |
Size: Head and body 19.5-23.5 inches
(50-60cm);
tail 8-11.5 inches (20-30cm) |
| Weight: 6.5-12 pounds (3-5.5kg) |
| Distribution: Found only on the tiny,
113 sq mile (292 sq km), Japanese-owned island of Iriomote, 62 miles (100km east
of Taiwan). |
| Habitat: Found in all habitats on
the island including broadleafed evergreen forest and dense mangrove. |
| Diet: Fruit bats, birds, box turtles,
rats, skinks, amphibians, crabs, and fish. |
| Reproduction: After a gestation period
of 60-70 days, female gives birth to 2-4 young. |
| Status: Endangered |
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| When first discovered, this small,
spotted cat was thought to represent an entirely new species, but is now generally
considered to be merely a local race of the Leopard
Cat. When it was first encountered, as recently as 1967, by the Japanese zoologist
Yoshinori Imaizumi, it caused great excitement. The idea that a new species of
feline could be discovered in the second half of the twentieth century seemed
amazing. It was located on the small |
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| island
of Iriomote near Taiwan. Although, with its spotted coat, long trunk, and round
ears with "eye-spots" on their backs, it looked remarkably like a Leopard
Cat, Imaizumi found that it had only 28 teeth instead of the usual 30. In place
of three premolars on each side of the upper jaw, it had only two. Unfortuanately,
it is a popular food item among the local people, and agricultural development
is also robbing it of its subtropical rain-forest strongholds. It is now estimated
that there are only between 40 and 80 individuals left. These dramatically low
numbers must make it one of the rarest forms of wild feline in existence. |
| IRIOMOTE
CAT PHOTOS |
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