 |
 |
 |
Enhance your computer
desktop with the FREE
big cats screen saver! |
|
|
|
 |
 |
| Scientific Name: Otocolobus manul |
Size: Head and body 20-25.5 inches
(50-65cm);
tail 8.5-12 inches (21-31cm) |
| Weight: 6.5-11 pounds (3-5kg) |
| Distribution: From Caspian Sea and
Iran, to southeastern Siberia and China. |
| Habitat: Open terrain, deserts, steppes,
and treeless rocky mountainsides. |
| Diet: Marmots, pikas, small mammals,
ground squirrels, hares and birds. |
| Reproduction: After a gestation period
of about 66 days, female gives birth to 4-6 kittens. |
| Status: Near
Threatened |
|
|
| Named after the German zoologist and
explorer, Professor Peter Pallas (1741-1811), this species of cat is also sometimes
known as the Manul. In earlier days it was sometimes called the Steppe Cat or
the Black-chested Wild Cat. The word manul is Mongolian for a small wild
cat. In appearance this cat looks rather like a wary, crouching Persian cat with
an Abyssinian coat. Its legs are short, its typical posture is always rather flattened,
and its fur is very thick |
 |
|
-
the thickest in the entire cat family. Together, these features give its body
a massively wide shape. The stocky effect is increased by its low, broad head
with small, blunt ears set down and to the sides. Its huge eyes give it an owl-like
expression. It is clear from its shape and the thickness of its fur that this
is a species that must endure intense cold at some time in its natural habitat.
The Pallas's Cat prefers open terrain and has been observed living at elevations
of up to 13,000 feet (4,000 meters). It is equally at home in deserts, steppe
country, or on the rocky slopes of mountains. It stays close to the ground, but
is a deft climber on steep rocky surfaces. It usually makes its den in rock cavities
and often "borrows" the homes of other species, such as marmots. Because
of the generally open country in which it lives, it is essentially an ambush hunter,
lying in wait, ready to pounce on small mammals or birds. Its flattened shape
may help it to remain concealed while watching for prey.
Little is known about its sexual behavior except that it has a strange call that
sounds not unlike the barking of a small dog. It is thought to produce large litters,
usually of about five or six kittens. According to Pallas, the original discoverer
of the species, they like to mate with domestic cats, and he suggested that such
crossings could explain the arrival of the thick-coated Persian Cats. Recent,
more sophisticated studies have refuted this suggestion, but it is not clear on
what grounds. They may well be right to reject Pallas's idea, but it would certainly
be of great interest to put them to the test and try to create some new hybrids
that could be examined more closely. This is a southern Russian cat that extends
its range down into Afghanistan and Iran, and across to Tibet, Mongolia, and W.
China. Despite its wide geographical distribution it is nowhere common and is
generally considered to be yet another rare species of wild cat. It was reported
that in the 1980s 2,000 skins of this cat were sold to the fur trade each year
and that this annual slaughter is creating a gradual decline in numbers. |
| PALLAS'S
CAT PHOTOS |
|
 |
| |
| |
|
