Wild cat manul: photo and description

This is a cute animal that resembles a long-haired domestic cat, lives in the Middle East and Central Asia. It prefers to inhabit forest-steppes and steppes and mountainous areas with brushwood. Much rarer wild cat found in the forests.

For this animal characterized by a ferocious and somewhat unhappy expression. Someone sees him sad and confused. In addition, it should be noted that Pallas ' very bad tamed. With a home cat but one day his only appearance. Their characters and habits are quite different.

Physical Description

The Steppe cat, the manul, a photo of which on some sites in 2008 made a lot of noise, a small animal, weighing up to 5 kg and a body length of about 65 cm. Wide and fluffy tail is not too long – not more than 30 cm. Legs are short and thick,“unarmed” sharp retractable claws.

Manul-wild cat, with a memorable appearance. It is similar to usual for us to pet, but has a very tight body and very thick fur in a light grey colour. This is the most furry member of the genus feline. On the back, every square inch counts 9000 hair. The hair length – 7 see Each hair has a white tip. It gives a luxurious fur a silvery hue.

Color may be smoky-gray or pale-red. On the tail of a thin strip of black. The same strip is on the face. Forehead manul marked with dark spots.

Particularly noteworthy are the eyes of this animal – large, yellow. Unlike domestic cats, wild cat manul, photo which you can see in our article, is circular, not vertical pupils. The animal has excellent hearing and eyesight but a good sense of smell Pallas ' cat can not boast.

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Varieties

Today there are three subspecies of the steppe cat:

• Siberian or nominal. He lives in the Northern part of the area. Has a gray color.
• Central Asian who lives in Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, in Northern Iran. You'll be red fur.
• Tibetan - with darker fur, black stripes on tail and body and brighter spots on the head. Lives in Northern India, Northern Pakistan, Tibet, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan.

Lifestyle

Manul – the slowest of the wild steppe cat. To run fast, he can not. It's a cat – a loner. Each individual lives in their territory and immediately banishes her from the stranger. Steppe cat goes hunting at night or early in the morning and during the day in burrows or crevices. Feeds on rodents, but it can cope with a rabbit or gopher. In summer it feeds on insects.

Enemies manul

To Protect themselves from enemies clumsy cat is quite difficult. His main enemies-owls, owls, wolves. Most often he tries to run from them to hide. Jumping on rocks or stones, cat bares sharp teeth, snorting. Manul often falls into the traps set for other animals.

The Offspring

Mating season is in February-March. At this time, the studs organize violent fights over cats. The offspring appears annually. In a litter, usually of two to six kittens. Participation in the education of the kids, the cats are not accepted. But the mother cat cares for her offspring very carefully – licking, mammal, warms its warmth. But if the cat is unhappy with the behavior of kittens, she bites. In three months the family first goes hunting. In natural conditions, the steppe cat lives 10 to 12 years.

Population and distribution

Unfortunately, the exact number of these animals is very difficult to establish, as a wild cat distributed mosaic, and behaves very discreetly. Everywhere, and in protected areas including the Pallas ' cat is very rare in many areas is on the verge of extinction.

This type of steppe cat was listed in the Red book of Russia, and also in the list of IUCN (which replaced the international Red book). In this manul received the status of “close to threatened”.

It is Especially dangerous for manul destruction of its habitat. This can be a consequence of grazing, poaching, mining. Often the home of these animals are destroying hunting and herding dogs. Despite the strict ban, is still sold gloves and even fur coats of this rare animal.

Wild cat Caracal

Another great cat-a Caracal. In nature is a predator belonging to the family of lynx. They look very similar to their distant relatives. However, scientists have identified a Caracal as a separate species, due to some genetic characteristics.

Appearance

The steppe cat (photo in our article will convince you of that) is very similar to the lynx. If not for the more diminutive size and solid color, it would be easy to confuse with a dangerous predator.

Caracal has a graceful body, with a length of 82 cm, the tail is 30 cm 45 cm Rise can Weight up to 19 kg. High set triangular ears topped with fluffy tassels that can be up to 5 cm

The Coat is very dense and short. Color can be reddish-brown back, abdomen white, sides are black marks.

Caracal in nature

This wild cat - a predator. It is active at night. Very rarely comes out of the hole in the daytime. Caracals are found in deserts, grasslands, in the foothills of Africa, Asia Minor, Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula. Also, sometimes they can be found in the desert of the southern Turkmenistan. It lives in burrows and rock crevices.

Hunt caracals on small birds and animals which run very fast. When a cat hunts, it can pull out the flying flocks of several birds. Despite this agility, he prefers to hunt for small rodents or reptiles.

Interesting facts

Caracal can go for long without water, using fluid obtained from the production. Sharp fangs he pierces the throat of his prey, and «steel» jaws holding her. Molars and Caracal claws sharp as razors.

In the wild caracals (like leopards) dragging his prey into the trees, hiding it from other predators.

Unusual Pets

These predators, unlike salvation, is easily tamed, so fans of exotic seek to settle them at home. I must say that they succeed.

Tamed caracals - very gentle and kind animals.

Contents

To Purchase a Caracal kitten preferably at the age of 6 months. If your plans do not include professional breeding of these animals, they should be immediately neutered or spayed.

If your house has small children, then think about acquiring a cat. Don't forget that first and foremost a predator, so if you hurt him, he can answer.

The Caracals, just like normal domestic cats need to be vaccinated, to monitor their health, take care of the hair.

The big cat Food should contain meat, poultry, fish, beef, rabbit, and occasionally eggs. Pork is strictly forbidden – it can cause severe feline disease Aujeszky's disease. From the diet of the steppe cat is necessary to completely eliminate salty or spiced foods. Animals need to be given vitamins. Caracal can be fed and dry food, but of the highest quality.

At home graceful caracals admire their grace, besides it's nice to know that your house is inhabited by «manual» the predator.