Chinese mountain cat
| Chinese Mountain Cat | |
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| Species: | F. bieti
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| Felis bieti Milne-Edwards, 1892
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The Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis bieti), also known as the Chinese Desert Cat, is a small wild cat of western China. It is the least known member of the genus Felis, the common cats. Except for the colour of its fur, this cat resembles a Wildcat in its physical appearance. It is 80 cm long, plus 35 cm tail. The fur is sand-coloured; the underside is whitish, legs and tail bear black rings. In addition there are pallid vertical bars, which may be hardly visible.
This cat is distributed over the following regions of China: Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and Sichuan. It inhabits sparsely-wooded forests and shrublands, and is occaisionally found in true deserts. It can live in environments as much as 10,000 feet (3,000 meters) in elevation.
The Chinese Mountain Cat is active at night; it hunts for rodents, pikas and birds. This cat is protected in China, but it is still endangered due to the organised poisoning of pikas, its main prey; these poisonings either kill the cats unintentionally, or withdraw their food basis.
There are three subspecies, Felis b. bieti in the eastern parts, and Felis b. chutuchta and Felis b. vellerosa in the west. Some authorities regard chutuchta and vellerosa as subspecies of the Wildcat.
References
- Template:IUCN2006 Database entry includes justification for why this species is vulnerable