Top 10 smallest wild cats in the world

Felines are a family of mammals belonging to the order of carnivores. Most often they get their own food, sneaking up and watching for it, sometimes – chasing it.

This family includes many animals, some of which, for example, the Amur tiger, impress with their size and weight. But there are also miniature animals, the weight of which does not exceed 1 kg.

The smallest wild cats in the world can live in different parts of the world. But, unlike big cats, they bring offspring every year or more often, they can be born from 5 to 6 cubs. This is the only thing that unites them, and the appearance, color, habits and lifestyle can differ significantly.

Each of them has its own unique character, although most feed on rodents, are nocturnal and prefer loneliness.

10 Jaguarundi

Included in the genus Puma. They have an elongated body, characterized by particular flexibility, short but strong legs and a long, thin tail. In appearance, she is somewhat similar to a weasel. She is bright red or brown with an admixture of other shades.

Length jaguarundi – from 55 to 77 cm, plus a tail that can grow up to 33-60 cm, height – from 25 to 35 cm. You can meet him in America. They live alone. They are terrestrial animals, especially active during the day, but they can climb trees.

They feed on small prey (up to 1 kg), everything that they can catch. Sometimes they raid poultry houses, or eat green figs.

9. forest cat

In Europe, as well as in Africa, Asia, this small predator lives, which is also called wild or European cat. He regularly hunts small animals and birds. Lives alone.

forest cat differs shyness and tries to avoid people, often aggressive. These animals have brown fur with black stripes. They have a thick tail. Body size – forty-five – eighty centimeters, height – thirty-five centimeters, while the length of the tail is thirty centimeters. They weigh from three to eight kilograms. African subspecies are much smaller.

8. Iriomote cat

This is a subspecies of the Bengal cat that lived on the small island of Iriomote, located near Taiwan. For a long time Iriomote cat considered a separate species. Was discovered in 1965.

The length of a cat with a tail is from seventy to ninety cm, and it makes up about 25% of its length. It weighs from three to five kg. It is dark brown in color, with small dark spots, which then merge into stripes. The animal prefers a nocturnal lifestyle, and during the day it hides in secluded corners. Prefers a solitary life. It feeds on rodents, waterfowl and crabs.

Now the number of these animals is rapidly declining, because. the meat of the Iriomote cat is considered a delicacy by the local population. Now there are less than 100 individuals.

7. Manul

Otocolobus manul comes from Greek words that can be translated as “pygmy ear». Manula also called pallas cat, after the person who first described it in 1776. It was a German naturalist P.S. Pallas.

In size, it resembles an ordinary cat: the length is from 52 to 65 cm, and the tail is from 23 to 31 cm. The manul weighs two to five kg. He has a thick and long tail, sideburns on his cheeks, small and rounded ears.

Among the cats, it was the most fluffy manul. The fur is gray, the villi have white tips, which makes it seem that it is powdered with snow. There are narrow stripes. It can be seen in Asia, in the steppe or semi-desert areas of the mountains.

It is active at night or early in the morning, during the day it sleeps in a shelter: in rocks or in old minks. Eats rodents and pikas, sometimes larger prey. Manuls do not know how to run fast, hiding from enemies, climbing rocks and stones. Their number is rapidly declining.

6. Long tailed cat

In America, in dense forests lives long-tailed cat, which is also called Margai. The length of her body is from sixty to eighty cm, plus a long tail (40 cm). It weighs from four to eight kg. She has a yellowish-brown coat that has dark ring-shaped spots on it.

Prefers loneliness, emerges from its hiding place only at night. Eats rodents, birds, small primates. This cat spends most of its life on branches. Now long-tailed cats are endangered. Catching or shooting them is prohibited.

5. kalimantan cat

Its other name is Borneo cat. She lives on the island of Kalimantan, which belongs to Malaysia and Indonesia. This is a fairly rare and little studied species. The first whole animal was discovered in 1992, it fell into a trap. Half-dead, she was transferred to the Sarawak State Museum.

Take a picture in nature kalimantan cat could only in 2002, and in 2011 it was possible to find a living individual, which now lives in the Pulong-tau reserve. The length of her body is 58 cm, she weighs from 2,3 to 4,5 kg.

4. Velvet cat

Velvet cat – one of the smallest: its body length is from 65 to 90 cm, but slightly less than half of this length (40%) is the tail. Its height is twenty-four – thirty cm, and it weighs from 2,1 to 3,4 kg, females are even smaller.

The velvet cat has thick fur, it is able to protect it from sub-zero temperatures. Color – from sand to gray, there are brownish stripes on the back. Found in hot, arid areas: sandy deserts, rocky valleys.

They are especially active at night, and during the day they hide in abandoned burrows of other inhabitants of the area. They eat game, anyone they can catch. They may not drink for a long time.

3. Sumatran cat

Lives in Thailand, Sumatra, Borneo, etc. Sumatran cat. She is reddish-brown in color, with thick and soft fur, her chest and abdomen are white, there are brown spots on the sides, and 2 white stripes on her forehead.

This is a miniature animal, the length of which is from 53 to 81 cm, and the weight is from 1,8 to 2,7 kg. It feeds on frogs, fish, etc. living in the water. Sometimes pet birds are stolen. They love fruits and dig up edible roots in the ground.

2. southern tiger cat

In 2013 year southern tiger cat or southern tiger was recognized as a separate species. Lives in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, etc. The length of their body is from 36,5 to 49 in females and from 44 to 55,5 cm, and the length of the tail is from 213 to 35 cm.

Males weigh from 1,91 kg to 2,42 kg, and females from 1,3 to 2,21 kg. The Southern Tiger cat has a yellowish-brown coat that becomes lighter on the sides, and the belly is white or light. It feeds on mice, birds, shrews, lizards, sometimes preying on larger prey. Endangered.

1. Spotted red cat

It belongs to the genus of Asian cats. It can be found in India and Sri Lanka. Rusty cat is under the threat of extinction, there are about 10 thousand adults in the world. Its length is from thirty-five to forty-eight cm, and the tail is from fifteen to thirty cm. An adult cat of this breed weighs 0,9-1,6 kg.

Externally Spotted red cat resembles a Bengal, its coat is gray, but it has “rusty” spots. The belly is light. They lead a solitary life, they go hunting at night. They feed on mice, lizards and various insects. They spend a lot of time on the ground, although they can climb trees.

These cats are born from one to three cubs, but most often one baby is born. The number of these animals is constantly decreasing, because. their environment is changing.