Details
Felis bieti
Chinese mountain cat is a rare cat of the eastern Tibetan Plateau and neighboring Chinese highlands. Poisoning campaigns and highland grassland change can affect it through prey loss.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It inhabits highland grassland, shrubland, mountain margins, and semi-desert in western China. Main habitat types in this guide are grassland, mountain, desert.
Typical length 69-84 cm, weight 4.5 kg-9 kg. Sandy fur, black rings on the thick tail, a broad face, and short ear tufts are typical.
It is nocturnal and usually solitary. It hunts pikas and rodents at night and rests in burrows or rock crevices.
It is carnivorous. Pikas, voles, and birds are common prey.
Breeding is poorly known, but small litters are raised in dens.
Habitat loss and human pressure make conservation attention important. Poisoning campaigns and highland grassland change can affect it through prey loss.
