CHAPTER TWENTY

FELIS SPP., THE SMALL CATS

20.1 The Living Animal

20.1.1 Zoology Cats of the genus Felis are elegant, graceful and agile small carnivores. They have sharp, retractile claws, sharp teeth, long and prominent whiskers, large upstanding ears and large eyes (fi g. 335). Cats are excel- lent stalkers because they make no noise while walking. The coat of Felis species is spotted or striped in a species specifi c pattern. The tail is ringed with black in most Felis species. All Felis cats are more or less the same, and the only available diagnostic features for our purpose are body proportions, coat pattern, tail length, distribution and habitat. They are all solitary animals. Usually they hunt at night; their nor- mal prey consists of hares, rodents and lizards. Cats are excellent tree climbers and many wild cats sleep in trees. The sighting of a wild Felis is a rare occasion, due to their solitary and nocturnal lifestyle, combined with their silent movement. The genus Felis includes one domestic species, Felis catus. There are many breeds and local races, but differences are mainly restricted to size, coat pattern, colour and hair type. In general, they have a body length of about sixty cm, and a medium-sized tail, reaching the ground when standing, or slightly longer. If there is a pattern, it consists of continuous or interrupted vertical stripes, vaguely resembling that of a tiger or a desert cat, or blotches of a different colour, for example white socks and a white muzzle on an otherwise black coat. Most likely, cats in early historical times resembled their wild ancestor more than modern cats do. Three wild species of Felis are common on the subcontinent, being the leopard cat (F. bengalensis), the jungle cat (F. chaus), and the desert cat (F. libyca). They all three have more or less the same size as a domestic cat. The six other wild Felis species have a much restricted distribution (see next section). small cats 265

The leopard cat has a long tail till the ground. Its body and tail are spotted, resembling those of the leopard, but the spots are elongated and more fi lled (fi g. 336, above). This makes this cat much wanted for its fur. The leopard cat has a wide distribution and is found in the forests from Kashmir and the Himalayas to Cape Comorin in the south. The desert cat has a rather long tail of about half its body length. It is easily distinguished by its numerous dark grey spots on its body; limbs and tail are ringed with black (fi g. 335). The desert cat is found in the arid zones and scrub jungles of the north-western regions extending into the drier parts of central India and the Deccan. It is a rather common wild cat. The desert cat is considered ancestral to the domestic cat. The jungle cat resembles a desert cat, but has much longer limbs, which make the tail seem comparatively short. There is a very vague pattern on its body; the tail and legs are ringed with black (fi g. 336, centre). The jungle cat is the most common wild cat of India, and is found practically everywhere from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, and also on Sri Lanka. It lives in grassland, scrub jungle, and the reedy banks of rivers and marshes. Being not afraid of humans, they are also found living in old ruins. This is the only cat that also hunts by day.

20.1.2 Related species Six more wild species of Felis occur on the Indian subcontinent, which all have a limited distribution. The golden cat,1 the fi shing cat, and the lynx2 are considerably larger than the domestic cat, whereas the other three wild species, the caracal, Manul’s cat,3 and the marbled cat4 are

1 The golden cat (F. temmincki) is the largest Felis. It gives the impression of a mini- ature maneless lion with its golden coat with hardly any pattern. The golden cat is found in the forested hills of Nepal, Sikkim, Assam, and the Chittagong hills. 2 The lynx (F. lynx) is a heavily built cat with characteristic tufts of hair on the tip of its ears. It has a fringe of hair hanging down its cheeks, and a short tail, ending in a black tip. The lynx is restricted to the grasslands and river plains of the upper Indus valley, Gilgit, Ladakh and Tibet. 3 Manul’s cat (F. manul) is immediately recognised by its short and widely separated ears, which appear to be set very low behind the cheeks, its broad head, its thick medium-sized ringed tail. It is found only in Ladakh and Tibet, but even there it is rare nowadays. 4 The marbled cat (F. marmorata) has a coat pattern which resembles that of the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), consisting of elongated large and small blotches,