Feline - a family of mammals belonging to the order of predators. Most often they get their food by sneaking up and stalking it, sometimes by 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 whose weight 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 give birth to 5 to 6 cubs. This is the only thing that unites them, and the appearance, color, habits and lifestyle can vary significantly.
Each of them has its own unique character, although the majority eats rodents, leads a nocturnal lifestyle, and prefers loneliness.
10. Jaguarundi
They are part of the Puma clan. They have an elongated body, characterized by special flexibility, short but strong legs and a long, thin tail. In appearance, it is somewhat similar to affection. She is bright red or brown with an admixture of other shades.
Length jaguarundi - from 55 to 77 cm, plus another tail, which can grow up to 33-60 cm, height - from 25 to 35 cm. You can meet him in America. They live one by one. They are terrestrial animals, especially active during the day, but they can climb trees.
They feed on small prey (up to 1 kg), all that they can catch. Sometimes raiding poultry houses, or eating the green fruits of 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 by shyness and tries to avoid people, often aggressive. These animals are with 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. Iriomotean cat
This is a subspecies of a Bengal cat that lived on the small island of Iriomot, located near Taiwan. For a long time Iriomotean cat was considered a separate species. It was discovered in 1965.
The length of a cat with a tail is from seventy to ninety cm, and it is 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 hides in secluded corners during the day. Prefers solitary life. It feeds on rodents, waterfowl and crabs.
Now the number of these animals is rapidly declining, because the meat of the Iriomotean cat is considered a delicacy among the local population. Now there are less than 100 individuals.
7. Manul
Otocolobus manul came from Greek words that can be translated as "dwarf ear». Manula also called pallas cat, in honor of the man who first described him in 1776. It was a naturalist from Germany P.S. Pallas.
In size, it resembles an ordinary cat: length - from 52 to 65 cm, and tail - from 23 to 31 cm. Weights two to five kg manul. It has a thick and long tail, on the cheeks are tanks, ears are small and rounded.
Among felines, it was the most furry manul. The fur is gray, the villi have white tips, which makes it appear to be covered with snow. There are narrow stripes. It can be seen in Asia, in the steppe or semi-desert parts of the mountains.
It is active at night or in the early morning, during the day he sleeps in shelter: in the rocks or in old minks. It eats rodents and a pika, sometimes it’s bigger prey. The Pallas cannot run fast, hiding from enemies, climbing on rocks and stones. Their number is rapidly declining.
6. Long-tailed cat
In America, in dense forests lives long-tailed catalso called margay. 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, on which there are dark ring-shaped spots.
Prefers loneliness, appears from his hiding place only at night. Eats rodents, birds, small primates. This cat spends most of its life on branches. Long-tailed cats are now in danger of extinction. Catching or shooting them is prohibited.
5. Kalimantan cat
Her other name is Borneo cat. She lives on the island of Kalimantan, which belongs to Malaysia and Indonesia. This is a rather rare and little studied species. The first whole animal was discovered in 1992, it fell into a trap. Half-dead, she was transported 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, it weighs from 2.3 to 4.5 kg.
4. Velvet cat
Velvet cat - one of the smallest: the length of her body is from 65 to 90 cm, but slightly less than half of this length (40%) is the tail. Her height is twenty-four - thirty cm, and she weighs from 2.1 to 3.4 kg, females are less.
The velvet cat has thick fur, it is able to protect it from subzero temperatures. Color - from sand to gray, brownish stripes on the back. It occurs in hot, arid areas: sandy deserts, rocky valleys.
They are especially active at night, and during the day they hide in the abandoned burrows of other inhabitants of this area. They eat game, everyone they can catch. May not drink for a long time.
3. Sumatran cat
In Thailand, in Sumatra, Borneo and others. Lives Sumatran cat. She is reddish-brown in color, with thick and soft fur, her chest and abdomen are white, her brown spots are on her sides, and 2 white stripes are on her forehead.
This is a miniature animal whose length is from 53 to 81 cm, and weight is from 1.8 to 2.7 kg. She feeds on frogs, fish, etc., living in the water. Sometimes they steal poultry. They love fruits and dig up edible roots in the ground.
2. Southern tiger cat
In 2013 Southern tiger cat or South tiger was recognized as a separate species. It lives in Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, etc. Their body length is from 36.5 to 49 in females and from 44 to 55.5 cm, and the tail length is from 213 to 35 cm.
Males weigh from 1.91 kg to 2.42 kg, and females weigh from 1.3 to 2.21 kg. The southern tiger cat has a yellowish-brown coat, which becomes lighter on the sides, and the belly is white or light. It feeds on mice, birds, shrews, lizards, and sometimes preys on larger prey. Endangered.
1. Spotted ginger cat
She belongs to the genus of Asian cats. It can be found in India and Sri Lanka. Rusty cat is under threat of extinction, in total about 10 thousand adults in the world. Its length is from thirty-five to forty-eight cm, and its 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 one, its coat is gray, but there are “rusty” spots on it. The tummy is light. They lead a solitary lifestyle, are selected for 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.
One to three cubs are born in these cats, but more often than not one baby is born. The number of these animals is constantly decreasing, as their habitat is changing.