Distribution of the Chinese mountain cat as of 2022[3]
TheChinese mountain cat (Felis bieti), also known asChinese desert cat andChinese steppe cat, is a small wildFelis species with sand-coloured fur, faint dark stripes on the face and legs and black tipped ears. It isendemic to theTibetan Plateau ofwestern China, where it lives ingrassland above elevations of 2,500 m (8,200 ft). It has been listed asvulnerable on theIUCN Red List since 2002.
Thescientific nameFelis bieti was proposed byAlphonse Milne-Edwards in 1892 who described the Chinese mountain cat based on a skin collected inSichuan Province. He named itFelis Bieti in honour of the French missionaryFélix Biet.[4]
In 2007, it was provisionally classified as a wildcatsubspecies under the nameF. silvestris bieti.[5]It has been recognised as avalid species since 2017, as it ismorphologically distinct from wildcats. Two subspecies were formerly recognized although neither is presently considered valid.Felis bieti chutuchta was described from a skull and pelt fromFelis lybica, andF. bieti vellerosa from a skin of eitherFelis chausi orFelis catus taken outside of its original range.[1]
The Chinese mountain cat belongs to anevolutionaryFelislineage that is estimated to have had acommon ancestor with theAsiatic wildcat (F. lybica ornata) around1.5 million years ago during theMiddle Pleistocene.[6]Gene flow from Chinese mountain cats to domesticcats (F. catus) in a few areas of the Tibetan Plateau is estimated to have happened between the 1960s and 2000s.[7]
The Chinese mountain cat has sand-coloured fur with darkguard 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 to 9 kg (14 to 20 lb).[8]
The Chinese mountain cat isendemic to China and lives on the north-eastern edge of theTibetan Plateau. It was recorded only in easternQinghai and north-westernSichuan.[9]It inhabits high-elevation steppegrassland,alpine meadow, alpineshrubland andconiferous forest edges at elevations of 2,500–5,000 m (8,200–16,400 ft). It has not been confirmed in truedesert or heavily forested mountains.[10]
The first photographs of a wild Chinese mountain cat were taken in 2007.[11] Between May 2015 and April 2016, individuals were observed and photographed in rocky terrain and grasslands inRuoergai county.[12][13] In 2016–2017, a camera trap survey in a provincial nature reserve in Xinlong County yielded records in conifer forest at an elevation range of 3,838–4,026 m (12,592–13,209 ft).[14] Between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Chinese mountain cats were documented in an alpine meadow in theSanjiangyuan region of the Tibetan Plateau.[15]
The Chinese mountain cat preys onpikas,rodents andbirds. It breeds between January and March. Females give birth to two to four kittens in a secluded burrow.[10] The burrows are typically abandoned marmot or badger dens on south-facing slopes.[16] Cats have been observed to kill marmots before taking residence in their burrows.[15]
Ten Chinese mountain cats were studied in theQilian Mountains from June 2020 to December 2021; they were active throughout the day but with a higher activity level from late afternoon to early night.[17]
The Chinese mountain cat is threatened due to the organised poisoning ofpikas. The poison used diminishes prey species and also kills cats unintentionally.[9]
Felis bieti is listed onCITES 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 avulnerable species on theIUCN Red List since 2002 and is included in the list ofNational First-Class Protected Animals under theLaw 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 aGPS 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.[18]
^abKitchener, 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.
^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).
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