Leopard Cat

Sizes Length: 35-38 inches Weight: 6-15 pounds Breeding Sexual Maturity: 18 months Mating Season: Northern range: once a year February/March. Tropic rangle: year round Gestation: 65-70 days Litter size: 2-4 kittens

Lifestyle Habit: Unknown Diet: rodents, young ungulates, hares, birds, reptiles, insects, eels, fish, and occasionally carrion. Lifespan: 15 years, but tend to lose their teeth at 8-10 years in captivity

The Leopard Cat has one of the widest spread ranges of any of the Asian species of wild cat - it can be found from parts of Pakistan, all across South East Asia, and down through Java, Borneo to the central Philippine Islands. The Leopard Cat is similar in overall size and shape to the domestic cat, but it has longer legs. Its coat has a great deal of variation in its color throughout its range, and tends to be yellowish-brown in the tropics and grayish-brown in the northern part of its range. The coat is dotted with black spots, which sometimes are solid and sometimes rosettes. The tail is banded with dark rings towards its buff colored tip. The ears are dark with central white spots.

The Leopard Cat can be found in habitats such as woodlands, forests, and scrub at all altitudes (as long as snow isn’t deeper than 4 inches. They are primarily nocturnal, and can hunt both on the ground and in the trees. Females give birth in dens in tree hollows, caves and other sheltered places. The male may help in rearing the young. Leopard cats are strong swimmers, going long distances and thus populating the offshore islands within their range. However, the island subspecies are particularly endangered by habitat destruction and hunting as their populations are small to begin with. Leopard cats were the first cats to be successfully bred through in-vitro fertilisation.

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