Wildlifeof Bhutan
Mainland Leopard Cat
Cats
Photo: Soumyajit Nandy · CC BY-SA 4.0 (May be cropped or resized)
Prionailurus bengalensis
Basic stats
Diet
Rodents, tree shrews, hares, lizards, amphibians, birds and insects
Habitat
Tropical evergreen and subtropical forest up to 4,474m in the Himalayas
Range
Across South, Southeast and East Asia, including Bhutan
Size
Head and body 38.8–66cm in the tropics; tail 17.2–31cm
Weight
0.55–3.8kg in the tropics
The leopard cat is a small cat with dark spots on a tawny body and limbs. Two dark stripes run from the eyes to the ears, white streaks run from the eyes to the nose, and two to four rows of elongated spots follow the back. The tail is about half the head-and-body length, and the backs of the rounded ears are black with a central white spot (Wikipedia, general species account).
It lives in tropical evergreen rainforest and subtropical deciduous and coniferous forest up to 4,474m in the Himalayas. Leopard cats are solitary except in the breeding season, most hunt at night, and they are agile, quite arboreal climbers. They dispatch prey with a rapid pounce and bite. The sources opened say nothing specific about the species in Bhutan beyond its range.
Quick answers
- What does the Mainland Leopard Cat eat?
- Rodents, tree shrews, hares, lizards, amphibians, birds and insects
- What habitat does the Mainland Leopard Cat live in?
- Tropical evergreen and subtropical forest up to 4,474m in the Himalayas
- Where is the Mainland Leopard Cat found?
- Across South, Southeast and East Asia, including Bhutan
- How big is the Mainland Leopard Cat?
- Head and body 38.8–66cm in the tropics; tail 17.2–31cm
- How much does the Mainland Leopard Cat weigh?
- 0.55–3.8kg in the tropics