CHINESE MOUNTAIN CATS
Chinese mountain cats (Felis bieti) are also known as Chinese desert cats and Chinese steppe cats. They are small wild cats with sand-coloured fur, faint dark stripes on the face and legs and black tipped ears. They are endemic to the Tibetan Plateau and other parts of western and southern China, and are generally found in grassland above elevations of 2,500 meters (8,200 feet). They It has been listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2002. [Source: Wikipedia]
Very little is known about Chinese mountain cats, and much of what is known comes from captive individuals in zoos. They have only been recognized as a separate species since 2017. Before that were regarded by some scientists as a subspecies of common wildcats (Felis silvestris). The lifespan of Chinese mountain cats has not been recorded. It is believed to be that it is close to that of closely-related jungle cats has an average lifespan of 14 years.[Source: Laura Maihofer, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Chinese mountain cats are the only endemic cat of China. They have been spotted in mountains and highland grassland areas in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. In a survey in 2004 they were found only in the northwestern regions of Sichuan and the eastern half of Qinghai. Observations of them in northern desert regions are likely the result of misidentifications of domestic cats or Asiatic wildcats (Felis silvestris ornata)
Chinese mountain cats live in alpine meadows, steppe grasslands, mountain shrub lands, and on the edges of high elevation coniferous forests from 2500 to 5000 meters (8200 to 16400 feet). Their dense fur helps them survive in this harsh, cold, mountain climate. Although Chinese mountain cats are sometimes referred to "Chinese desert cats", they don’t live in lowland desert areas. Chinese mountain cats are top predators and the adults are not preyed on by other animals. Young may occasionally taken by wolves, brown bears or foxes.
Chinese Mountain Cat Characteristics and Diet
Chinese mountain cats range in weight from four to nine kilograms (8.8 to 19.8 pounds) and have a head and body length that ranges from 60 to 85 centimeters (23.6 to 33.5 inches). Their tail is 29–41 centimeters (11–16 inches) long. A distinctive feature of these cats is the large size of its auditory bullae (the hollow bony structures that enclose the middle and inner ears of mammals) It takes up 25 percent of the skull length. Sexual Dimorphism (differences between males and females) is present: Males are larger than females. [Source: Laura Maihofer, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Chinese mountain cats have a broad, stocky body. Their legs and tail are relatively short. The tail being approximately 40 percent of the body length. Their fur changes color according to season: light grey in winter and brown during the summer. Their sides, legs, and tail are covered in dark grey stripes and the tip of the tail is black. There are dark brown tufts on the tip of each ear.
Chinese mountain cats are carnivores. They primarily eat small mammals such as pikas, zokors (rodents that resemble mole rats), and other rodents. They use their keen sense of hearing, made possible in part by their large auditory bullae, to sense prey. They mainly hunt burrowing prey, such as zokors, by listening to them in their tunnels, and then digging them up. In addition to catching small mammals, they may catch pheasants and other birds.
Chinese Mountain Cat Behavior
Chinese mountain cats are cursorial (with limbs adapted to running), nocturnal (active at night), crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), motile (move around as opposed to being stationary) and solitary. The home range of Chinese mountain cats is unknown, but that of closely-related jungle cat is 45 to 180 square kilometers. Territory is thought to be defined by scent marks. [Source: Laura Maihofer, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Chinese mountain cats sense using touch and chemicals usually detected with smell and rely heavily on hearing to track their prey. The only recorded behaviors of Chinese mountain cats has come from cats in captivity. They are are nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk), and spend their days sleeping in a shallow burrow. The burrows are often in the cracks of rocks or under boulders and tend to face southward. They sometimes rest in the abandoned burrows of marmots of badgers.
Before 2007, Chinese mountain cats were known only from six individuals, all living in Chinese zoos, and a handful of skins in museums. The first photographs of a wild Chinese mountain cat were taken in 2007. One individual was observed and photographed in May 2015 in the Ruoergai grasslands (Songpan Grasslands), in the eastern part of the Tibetan Plateau, the largest high-altitude marsh area in the world.[. Between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Chinese mountain cats were documented in an alpine meadow in the southeastern Sanjiangyuan region, an area of the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai province, which contains the headwaters of three great rivers of Asia — the Yellow, the Yangtze, and the Mekong.. [Source: Wikipedia]
Chinese Mountain Cat Mating, Reproduction and Offspring
Chinese mountain cats are polygynandrous (promiscuous), with both males and females having multiple partners. They are iteroparous. This means that offspring are produced in groups such as litters multiple times in successive annual or seasonal cycles. They engage in seasonal breeding, breeding once a year from January to March.The number of offspring ranges from two to four and the age in which they become independent ranging from seven to eight months. [Source: Laura Maihofer, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Little is know about the Chinese mountain cat mating system, but closely-related jungle cats are promiscuous. Male and female Chinese mountain cats live in solitary burrows except during the mating season when they have been reported to live together.
Chinese mountain cats are altricial. This means that young are born relatively underdeveloped and are unable to feed or care for themselves or move independently for a period of time after birth. Parental care is provided by females. Pre-birth and pre-weaning provisioning and protecting are done by females. Chinese mountain kittens are born in May. Mothers care for their young in a burrow where they are safe from predators. Among jungle cats the father occasionally stays to protect the territory of the mother and kittens.
Chinese Mountain Cats, Humans and Conservation
On the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List Chinese mountain cats are listed as Vulnerable. In CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild) they are in Appendix II, which lists species not necessarily threatened with extinction now but that may become so unless trade is closely controlled. [Source: Laura Maihofer, Animal Diversity Web (ADW) /=]
Chinese mountain cats help farmers and herders in China to control pest populations. They feed on pikas which are seen as pests by some Chinese farmers because they consume grains and grasses that farmers grow and livestock eat. It is illegal to hunt Chinese mountain cats, but their pelts have been found in Chinese markets. One of the main threats to Chinese mountain cats has been the poisoning of pikas because they are viewed as crop pets. This poisoning reduces the amount of prey and poisons the cats, killing them unintentionally.
The total population of Chinese mountain cats is estimated to be less 10,000 individuals and the population trend is decreasing. These cats have traditionally been hunted for their fur. The pelts are very warm and are used to make clothes and traditional hats. Although hunting Chinese mountain cats are illegal, the pelts can bee seen shops and markets in China and Tibet.
Livestock farmers have used zinc phosphide and other similar chemicals to kill the pikas. A poisoning campaign was enacted from 1958 to 1978 during the Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution as part of the “Four Pests Campaign”. The program was discontinued after it became clear because it became evident that the poison was killing predators of the pikas as well as the pikas themselves. Unfortunately, small scale poisoning still continues today.
Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons
Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, CNTO (China National Tourism Administration) David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, BBC, CNN, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.
Last updated March 2025