Far Eastern, Amur, forest, leopard cat - these are subspecies of a Bengal cat. Outwardly, the animal is very similar to a miniature leopard, although the family ties existing between them are very weak.
A leopard cat is slightly larger than a domestic cat. The size of the animal depends on its habitat. In the tropics, the length of his body ranges from 38 to 65 centimeters, and weighs about 3.5 kg. In the north of China, the weight of these cats reaches 7 kg, and the body length reaches 85 cm. This large animal is called the Far Eastern forest cat. The beast gains the greatest weight in the fall. By spring, the small predator is significantly losing weight, since it becomes more difficult for him to get food.
The leopard cat lives in the Amur Region, on the Korean Peninsula, almost throughout China. In addition, the animal is very comfortable in India, found in Pakistan, the Sunda Islands, Indonesia and the Philippines.
For living, a leopard cat chooses evergreen forests at sea level. It can be found in the foothills of the Himalayas. In Russia, he prefers to settle in wooded river valleys, and very skillfully chooses territories where snow cover does not exceed 10 cm. Each representative of a subspecies has its own territory, which averages three and a half square kilometers.
Leopard cat has a very conspicuous appearance. Small head, short muzzle, long legs. Thick, soft and fluffy coat. Two black stripes are clearly visible on the head , which stretched from the eyes to the back of the head. Thinner white stripes run from the eyes to the nose. Rounded ears of medium size. Large eyes, white lower part of the muzzle.
The hair on the body and limbs is covered with dark spots of different sizes and shades. On the tail are several incomplete dark rings. The general color is yellowish brown, and in animals living in the north, the fur is silver gray.
An elegant and graceful animal, the Asian leopard cat, lives in southern Asia. It got its name from its incredible resemblance to the leopard, despite the fact that their relationship is very relative.
The leopard cat (you can see its photo in our article) prefers to spend the day in a shelter - in hollows of trees and caves, and goes hunting at night. It should be noted that these animals are excellent swimmers, and in addition, they move well in the mountains. A leopard cat is a loner, but he chooses a life partner only once. A feature of this breed is that the male and female kittens are raised together. It lasts 7-10 months.
The mating season of these animals lasts from five to nine days, the pregnancy of a cat - nine or ten weeks. A cat is born from two to four kittens. The weight of newborns is from 80 g to 130 g. Eyes in cubs open on the tenth day. On the 23rd day of life, they are already able to eat the food brought by caring parents.
Leopard cats are predators. They feed on small animals, amphibians, birds, will not refuse reptiles. Sometimes they eat eggs, fish and grass.