The Fishing Cat kittens (Prionailurus viverrinus), at the National Zoo in Washington DC, sometimes need a break from romping around their yard and catching fish! Here, mom cleans one of the kittens. :3
(photo: Barbara Statas) (via: Smithsonian’s National Zoo)
A Eurasian Wildcat (Felis sylvestris) has a little salad with his vole.
(Source: proust73)
A ridiculously hot boy made this Pallas’s Cat gif… (chasingthewolf)
A Cheetah Missing Its Spots!
Now here’s something you don’t see everyday - a cheetah missing its spots! According to experts, the last recorded sighting of a spotless cheetah was in 1921.
John Pullen, curator of mammals at Marwell Zoo, near Winchester, Hants, said: ‘This is really like a rare skin issue where something has happened to the genetic coding that would give the normal patterning.’
(read more: The Featured Creature)
eximago: A Sand Cat (Felis margarita) in sand.
Fishing Cat (Prionailurus viverrinus)
… a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. In 2008, the IUCN classified the fishing cat as endangered since they are concentrated primarily in wetland habitats, which are increasingly being settled, degraded and converted. Over the last decade, the fishing cat population throughout much of its Asian range declined severely. Like its closest relative, the leopard cat, the fishing cat lives along rivers, streams and mangrove swamps. It is well adapted to this habitat, being an eager and skilled swimmer…
(read more: Wikipedia)
eximago: Pallas’s Cat (Otocolobus manul)
The Pallas’ cat or manul is a a species of cat native to the steps of Central Asia. The manul is about the size of a house cat with shorter legs. Its long, thick fur gives it the appearance of being bulkier than it actually is. Among its unusual features for felines are shorter claws and fewer teeth (the first upper premolar is absent) than most cats.
The range of this species is broken and patchy, occurring within Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Kashmir, the Tibetan Plateau and parts of Russia.
They shelter in caves, crevices, and marmot burrows most of the day and come out in the late afternoon to hunt. They take voles, gerbils, pikas, partridges, small marmots, as well as other small diurnal animals. They aren’t fast runners and so use the terrain for cover and ambush their prey.
They are listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. Hunting and trapping are the main dangers they face for their survival. Domestic dogs will also kill them, and they often get caught in leg snares intended for wolves and foxes, or marmots and hares. They’re also frequently shot when mistaken for marmots.
Eurasian Lynx (Lynx lynx), Nationalpark Bayerischer Wald, Deutschland
(photo: Martin Mecnarowski)
Scenes from Big Cat Rescue: Daisy the Serval
(photo: Big Cat Rescue, Tampa FL, USA)
EFBC’s Feline Conservation Center: Aztec the Jaguarundi
Aztec the Jaguarundi doing a yoga stretch. Jaguarundis are still occasionally sighted in the southernmost United States, but are often mistaken for otters or a member of the weasel family (although they are obviously a wild cat species, upon close inspection).
(photo/text via: EFBC)
