Details
Felis chaus
Jungle cat is a medium-sized cat adapted to reed beds, marsh edges, and dense waterside cover. Wetland conversion and conflict around poultry or small livestock can pressure local populations.
Map: Ecoregions 2017 © RESOLVE (CC BY 4.0) · Natural Earth (PD)
It ranges through wetlands, grassland, farmland edges, and woodland margins from western Asia to South and Southeast Asia. Main habitat types in this guide are freshwater, grassland, forest.
Typical length 59-76 cm, weight 3 kg-16 kg. Long legs, a short tail, gray-brown to sandy fur, and small ear tufts give it a lean profile.
It is most active around dawn and dusk and usually solitary. It slips through reeds and shrubs and stalks low across open waterside ground.
It is carnivorous. Rodents, birds, reptiles, fish, and frogs are commonly taken.
Females den in cover or burrows and move kittens among sheltered sites.
Although still widespread in places, it remains sensitive to habitat change. Wetland conversion and conflict around poultry or small livestock can pressure local populations.
