Far East forest cat

Far East forest cat is one of the northernmost representatives of the cat family living in Central Asia. Researchers attribute it to the Asian small cats; this numerous genus are often called "leopard print", common to all representatives of the characteristic color of the coat.

Appearance
Unlike their distant cousins, the lynx and Bengal cats, Amur, far Eastern forest cat looks very similar to a normal domestic cat, though applied to a completely different subspecies. At length he reaches 90 – 95 cm, with almost half (approximately 40 cm) is flexible narrow tail.
Weight may vary from 2.5 to 4 kg in females and from 4 to 8 kg in males. Among the small Asian cats of the Amur forest cat is the smallest.
The body of this cautious predator elongated, very flexible and muscular.
Powerful legs and are longer than the Pets, whiskers make him quite a dangerous opponent in the hunt.
A small, elongated head, crowned with rounded ears without any hint of a brush: this feature allows you to easily distinguish safe for human leopard cat from its more dangerous cousins.
Important feature: the eyes of Amur cats are located close to each other and are characterized by deep planting.
In the middle of the nose, you notice a broad band where the wool is completely absent.
Fangs these forest hunters, long and thick claws, on the contrary, quite short but strong.

Перевести вGoogleBingThe traces left by the far Eastern forest cat in the snow, is often confused with traces of domestic cats, since they differ mainly only in size.The traces left by the far Eastern forest cat in the snow, is often confused with traces of domestic cats, since they differ mainly only in size.

The color "leopard" cat
The "leopard" cat hair very soft, dense undercoat. The coat colour can vary from greyish sand to yellow-brown, with scattered throughout the body reddish spots oval. Because of these spots, reminiscent of antique coins, called Chinese predator, the "Money cat".
On back dark spots are merged into three black-brown stripes. The same strip, only the cross can be seen on the paws and throat of the cat. The young leopard is more pronounced, with age, the color becomes more uniform.

On the belly of all this wool is lighter than that of the ridge (in the area of the chest and throat approaching dirty-white). But the tail, on the contrary, almost always monochromatic, reddish-grey or brownish. The tip is painted in dark gray or black color. Sometimes it is possible to see banding his dark stripes.
Head of wild cat is decorated with two lighter stripes running from the inner corners of each eye. Between them, red-gray nose through the crown, the neck stretches brown stripe. The chin of the animal is almost white, but the tips of the ears, on the contrary, painted black. In General, brown-striped color is the Amur cats excellent protection, making it virtually unnoticeable as on tree branches and covered with foliage to the ground.

Habitat
Amur forest cat, like many other inhabitants of the Far East, endemic. More it is not found anywhere else. This predator inhabits all along the Amur, on the coast of the sea of Japan, the lakes Khanka and Hassan, the Indian subcontinent, as well as almost the entire territory of China down to the Malay Islands.
Especially comfortable he feels in nature reserves: Khanka, Ussuri, Lazovsky, Cedar Falls. This is due not so much security (on an industrial scale on the Amur cat never hunted) as distance from human settlements.
Found this predator and some of the Japanese Islands. Actually, it took away one of his titles: "the leopard cat is Tsushima".
It lives mainly in grassy floodplains, deciduous or mixed forests. Less common in the forest, although there you can see his mottled pelt. In Pomerania, its main habitat is the shrub and cane lowlands along the banks of bayous and lakes. In these places you can often find the name "jungle cat": it is not quite true, since the same name is a completely different cat, but well reflects the lifestyle of the Amur predator.
Quite confident far East cat feels on the rocks, although there is no high mountain climbs. The reason for this – snow accumulates in the winter between the rocks (maximum depth of snow cover in which the predator can hunt, 30-40 cm).
With the onset of winter the cat is hiding in the nest, and not out of it until, while on the surface of the snow formed a solid frozen crust, able to withstand the weight of the animal. The only exception is the cats, feeding calves, and those of their cats, who before the Blizzard was not lucky in the hunt.