So What Is An Asian Leopard Cat?
by Pamela Knowles
Reprinted from The Bengal Bulletin, March
1995
As part of a US team of wildlife biologists sent
to Asia to train wildlife managers, I often wandered the streets
of the various cities. I didn't know it at the time, but my first
introduction to what would become a passion began during one of
those wanderings in Bangkok, Thailand. There I stumbled on a back
street market selling odds and ends, with one of the odds being
a basket of leopard cat kittens. I lost my heart to their beauty
and broke my heart over their plight. However, it wasn't until
several years later that I actually heard about, met, and fell
head over heels for, the Bengal.
Now, like most of you reading this, I can't imagine life without
Bengals in my house. To combine my love for wild cats as a wildlife
biologist specializing in predator ecology with my love of house
cats as pets, well, it's just sheer heaven. And, like most breeders,
I'm excited about the challenge of trying to breed for a house
cat that looks like a leopard cat. However, to do this successfully
I think it's necessary for breeders to know something about the
species which we are trying to emulate. To this end, I'm hoping
I can share some of the biological information that I've accumulated
about the wild leopard cat in my professional life.
There are 37 species of wild cats in the world,
30 of which are considered small wild cats, with come of the more
well-known species including the bobcat, lynx, margay, ocelot,
and the wild cat (Felis sylvestris which is probably the ancestor
of our house cat, Felis catus). There are also numerous species
not so well known including the sand cat, fishing cat, pampas
cat, Geoffrey's cat, Pallas' cat, etc.
In 1974, an agreement called the Convention on
International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates
international trade of numerous species of plants and animals,
was enacted and nearly 100 countres currently subscribe to it.
Because of the massive fur trade in cat skins, all cats were placed
on the CITES Appendix I (species are endangered and ordinary commercial
trade is not permitted) or Appenndix ll (species are not currently
endangered but could become so of trade is not regulated). The
leopard cat has been placed on Appendix ll, with the exception
of one subspecies which is on Appendix I. Of the small cats, the
leopard cat (felis bengalensis) is probably one of the most common
and widespread, occurring throughout much of southern and easterm
Asia, including the Philippines and Indonesia (for years China
alone has been able to sustain killing about 150,000 leopard cats
annually for their skins) Most authorities do not consider the
leopard cat in imminent danger of extinction but the destruction
of habitat by rapidly expanding human population, forest clearcutting,
slash and burn, farming, and soil erision, remains a constant
threat to wild cats as they are forced into smaller and smaller
areas in which to live. In the US, there are appriximately 27
leopard cats in zoos and an unknown number owned by private citizens.
The scientific literature describes leopard cats
as "house cat size with somewhat longer legs" although
size varies depending on the subspecies. Those in the Philippines
weigh only 5 lbs, while in the northern part of their range the
leopard cat weighs up to 15 lbs. Although they do not appear to
be heavier in the wild than weights commonly attained in house
cats, some leopard cats are much longer than house cats if measured
from head to tail. The background color of the coat is highly
variable depending on where the cat is from, and ranges from bright
reddish to gray, golden, or tawny brown. The underparts are spotted
on a white background, and the tail is ringed toward the tip.
There are usually four longitudinal bands running from the forehead
or inner eye corners to behind the neck that break into short
bands and elongated spots over the shoulders, although sometimes
one stripe runs the length of the body. The spots are rosetted
in some of the cats, solid in others. The head is relatively small
with a narrow muzzle and the ears are described in the literature
as moderately long and narrow with rounded tips. There is a white
spot on the back of the ear typical of spotted cat species. The
eyes are large and amber to grey in color. Two narrow black cheek
stripes run from the comers of the eye, enclosing a white area
on the cheek.
In terms of understanding some of our Bengal's
behaviors, it behooves us to look at the habitat of the leopard
cat and some of its associated behaviors. Leopard cats are extremely
variable in the types of areas in which they can live. They are
found in a variety of forested habitats at both high and low elevations,
as well as scrub, semidesert, and agricultural areas. Very few
scientific studies have been conducted on this relatively common
Asian cat, but it is believed to be highly arboreal in its jungle
home (who hasn't had a Bengal leaping to the highest point in
the house to peer down at the world below). Their hunting habits
include catching rodents (as my children's hamster found, to his
dismay), birds, reptiles, fish (which may explain the penchant
of our Bengals for aquariums, open toilet bowls and bathtubs!),
and insects (my Bengals can catch a fly out of the air with one
paw and are dead serious about grasshoppers).
Probably one of the most misunderstood aspects of the leopard
cat's behavior is it's reputation for ferocity and it's inability
to be domesticated. As a wildlife biologist, I take exception
to humans labeling species of animals that don't domesticate easily
as "mean". The leopard cat has evolved as an efficient
little predator that occupies a special niche wherein it lives
and reproduces in what is often a hostile world. Just because
it doesn't settle easily into our tame and domesticated world
should not be a criteria with which we judge an animal "mean".
That aside, there are in fact, examples of leopard cats living
with and around humans in comparative peace.
In Asia, some villagers are reported as keeping
leopard cats around to hunt mice, and a wildlife biologist friend
of mine reports seeing house cat/leopard cat hybrids in the streets
of Bangkok. A leopard cat, kept by a biologist of the American
Museum of Natural History, was reportedly very friendly and followed
him everywhere. Dr. Petzsch of the Halle Zoo reportedly states
that leopard cats can become as tame as domestic cats. However,
there are certainly enough stories of leopard cats, bottle raised
from birth, that revert to their wild and shy temperament upon
maturity, to realize that they are not an easily domesticated
animal. And perhaps that is as it should be.
Most people have neither the temperament nor
the facilities to keep wild cats and most of these cats are better
off in their wild homes. I believe that the Bengal is the perfect
answer to satisfy the need in many of us to live with exotic spotted
cats. And, for me an important extra, the Bengal is a perfect
platform from which to teach the public about the fact that there
are many other cat species in the world besides lions and tigers
and house cats, many of them on the brink of extinction. Unfortunately,
wild cats have become one of our world's most threatened major
group of land animals. Although understanding the leopard cat
and it's behavior may go a long way to helping us understand our
Bengals, maybe the reverse is also true. Perhaps in living with
and understanding our Bengals, we will come to appreciate and
care about the future of the leopard cat and it's kind who are
relying on our good will for their very survival in the lands
they inhabit.
To see the movement of the Asian Leopard Cat
and hear it's voice, please click on Animated
Asian Leopard Cats.