Chinese mountain cat

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Chinese mountain cat
Chinese mountain cat in Xining Zoo
CITES Appendix II (CITES)[3]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Suborder: Feliformia
Family: Felidae
Subfamily: Felinae
Genus: Felis
Species:
F. bieti[1][2]
Binomial name
Felis bieti[1][2]
Distribution of the Chinese mountain cat, 2022[3]

The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti), also known as Chinese desert cat and Chinese steppe cat, is a small wild Felis species with sand-coloured fur, faint dark stripes on the face and legs and black tipped ears. It is endemic to the Tibetan Plateau of western China, where it lives in grassland above elevations of 2,500 m (8,200 ft). It has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2002.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

The

scientific name Felis bieti was proposed by Alphonse Milne-Edwards in 1892 who described the Chinese mountain cat based on a skin collected in Sichuan Province. He named it Felis Bieti in honour of the French missionary Félix Biet.[4]

In 2007, it was provisionally classified as a wildcat subspecies under the name F. silvestris bieti.[5] It has been recognised as a valid species since 2017, as it is morphologically distinct from wildcats.[1]

The Chinese mountain cat belongs to an

Middle Pleistocene.[6] Gene flow from Chinese mountain cats to domestic cats (F. catus) in a few areas of the Tibetan Plateau is estimated to have happened between the 1960s and 2000s.[7]

Characteristics

The Chinese mountain cat has sand-coloured fur with dark guard hairs. Faint dark horizontal stripes on the face and legs are hardly visible. Its ears have black tips. It has a relatively broad skull, and long hair growing between the pads of their feet. It is whitish on the belly, and its legs and tail bear black rings. The tip of the tail is black. It is 69–84 cm (27–33 in) long in head and body with a 29–41 cm (11–16 in) long tail. Adults weigh from 6.5–9 kg (14–20 lb).[8]

Distribution and habitat

The Chinese mountain cat is

endemic to China and lives on the north-eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. It was recorded only in eastern Qinghai and north-western Sichuan.[9]
It inhabits high-elevation steppe
coniferous forest edges between 2,500 and 5,000 m (8,200 and 16,400 ft) elevation. It has not been confirmed in true desert or heavily forested mountains.[10]

The first photographs of a wild Chinese mountain cat were taken in 2007.

Ruoergai grasslands.[12] Between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Chinese mountain cats were documented in an alpine meadow in the southeastern Sanjiangyuan region.[13]

Ecology and behaviour

The Chinese mountain cat is active at night and preys on pikas, rodents and birds. It breeds between January and March. Females give birth to two to four kittens in a secluded burrow.[10]

Until 2007, the Chinese mountain cat was known only from six individuals, all living in Chinese zoos, and a handful of skins in museums.[11]

Threats

The Chinese mountain cat is threatened due to the organised poisoning of pikas. The poison used diminishes prey species and also kills cats unintentionally.[9]

Conservation

Felis bieti is listed on

CITES Appendix II.[3] It is protected in China by laws such as the Animal Protection Law and the Forestry Law.[9] It has been listed as a vulnerable species on the IUCN Red List since 2002 and is included in the list of National First-Class Protected Animals under the Law of the People’s Republic on the Conservation of Wild Animals since February 2021.[3]

In July 2023, a Chinese mountain cat was fitted with a

GPS collar and released into the wild by the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center. A five-year-old male was caught in a mouse trap when trying to hunt in a chicken pen. He was sent to the Center in June 2023 to be treated for a leg wound and for rehabilitation.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b Kitchener, A. C.; Breitenmoser-Würsten, C.; Eizirik, E.; Gentry, A.; Werdelin, L.; Wilting, A.; Yamaguchi, N.; Abramov, A. V.; Christiansen, P.; Driscoll, C.; Duckworth, J. W.; Johnson, W.; Luo, S.-J.; Meijaard, E.; O’Donoghue, P.; Sanderson, J.; Seymour, K.; Bruford, M.; Groves, C.; Hoffmann, M.; Nowell, K.; Timmons, Z. & Tobe, S. (2017). "A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group" (PDF). Cat News (Special Issue 11): 15−16.
  2. OCLC 62265494
    .
  3. ^
    doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T8539A213200674.en
    . Retrieved 20 March 2023.
  4. ^ Milne-Edwards, A. (1892). "Observations sur les mammifères du Thibet". Revue générale des sciences pures et appliquées. III: 670–671.
  5. PMID 17600185
    .
  6. PMID 26518481
    .
  7. PMID 34162544
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-226-77999-7
    .
  9. ^
    doi:10.1017/s0030605304000092
    .
  10. ^ a b Liao Y. (1988). "Some biological information of desert cat in Qinhai". Acta Theriologica Sinica. 8: 128–131.
  11. ^ a b Yin Y.; Drubgyal N.; Achu; Lu Z. & Sanderson J. (2007). "First photographs in nature of the Chinese mountain cat". Cat News (47): 6–7.
  12. ^ Francis, S. & Muzika, Y. (2015). "Chinese Mountain Cat in the Ruoergai Grasslands" (PDF). Small Wild Cat Conservation News. 1 (1): II. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-08-08. Retrieved 2015-08-05.
  13. PMID 32274906
    .
  14. ^ Ma Kexin; Zhang Liping (2023). "全球首例！荒漠猫佩戴卫星定位项圈放归野外" [A world first! Desert cats are released into the wild wearing satellite positioning collars]. People's Daily (in Chinese).

External links

Wikispecies has information related to Felis bieti.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Felis bieti.
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