Leopard cat - small predator

The Far Eastern, Amur, forest, leopard cat are subspecies of the Bengal cat. Externally, the animal is very similar to a leopard in miniature, although the family ties that exist between them are very weak.

A leopard cat is a little more than a domestic cat. The size of the animal depends on the habitat. In the tropics, the length of his body varies from 38 to 65 centimeters, and the weight is approximately 3.5 kg. In northern China, the weight of these cats reaches 7 kg, and the length of the body reaches 85 cm. This large animal is called a forest Far Eastern cat. The largest weight gaining in the autumn. By spring, a small predator significantly loses weight, as it becomes more difficult for him to obtain food.

The leopard cat lives in the Amur region, on the Korean peninsula, almost throughout China. In addition, the animal is very comfortable in India, it is found in Pakistan, on the Sunda Islands, in Indonesia and the Philippines.

For living, the leopard cat chooses evergreen forests at sea level. It can be found in the foothills of the Himalayas. In Russia, he prefers to settle in wooded river valleys, and very skillfully chooses areas where the snow cover does not exceed 10 cm. Each representative of the subspecies has its own territory, which on average is three and a half square kilometers.

The leopard cat has a very remarkable appearance. Small head, short muzzle, long legs. Thick, soft and fluffy wool. On his head, two black lines are clearly visible , which stretched from the eyes to the back of the head. Thin white strips go from the eyes to the nose. Rounded ears are of medium size. Large eyes, white lower part of muzzle.

The wool on the body and limbs is covered with dark spots of different size and shade. On the tail there are several incomplete dark rings. The general color is yellowish-brown, and in animals living in the north, fur is silver-gray.

In the south of Asia, there is an elegant and graceful animal - an Asian leopard cat. This name it received from an incredible external resemblance to the leopard, despite the fact that their relationship is very relative.

Day leopard cat (photo it you can see in our article) prefers to spend in shelter - in hollows of trees and caves, and at night goes on a hunt. It should be noted that these animals are excellent swimmers, and in addition, they are excellent in mountainous terrain. A leopard cat is a loner, but he chooses his partner only once. The peculiarity of this breed is that the male and female kittens are raised together. This lasts 7-10 months.

The mating period of these animals lasts from five to nine days, the cat's pregnancy is nine or ten weeks. A cat has two to four kittens. The weight of newborns is from 80 g to 130 g. The eyes of the young open on the tenth day. On the 23rd day of life they are already able to eat the food that caring parents bring.

Leopard cats are predators. They feed on small animals, amphibians, birds, will not give up the reptiles. Sometimes eat eggs, fish and grass.