The Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul) is a near-threatened wild cat, and a mammal. It is also known as a Manul. It is a felid, or a feline.
The Pallas’s Cat has a shortened ‘squashed’ or flattened face. It is a stocky cat with long, dense grey fur with dark vertical bars on its body and front legs. Its winter coat is darker. It has white cheeks with narrow black stripes from the corners of it grey-green eyes. It has a white chin and a white throat. It has black rings on its tail. Its legs are short and its claws are long.
Pallas’s Cat
It is about the size of a domestic cat. It measures 46-55 centimetres (18-26 inches) in length with a tail measuring 21-31 centimetres (8-12 inches) long.
The Pallas’s Cat is native to central Asia, in Afghanistan, Mongolia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, southern Russia, Kazakhstan, Pakistan, and western China. There may be some remaining in the Transcaucasus. It prefers grasslands and montane steppes.
The Pallas’s Cat is solitary. It spends the day in caves, rock crevices, or burrows. It leaves the cave in the late afternoon to hunt for food. It eats small mammals and birds.
The female Pallas’s Cat is pregnant for 66-75 days, before giving birth to 2-6 young, called kittens. The kittens have thick fuzzy fur, which is replaced by the adult coat after around 60 days.
It lives up to 11 years.
Pallas’s Cat
Pallas’s Cat
Pallas’s Cat
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM
