Asian Leopard Cats
Picture: Asian Leopard
There are approximately 37 species of exotic wild cat in the modern world. Among these are the Ocelo cat, Margay cat, Sand Cat, Fishing Cat, Pallas Cat and of course the Asian Leopard Cat. All of which are endangered, only some subspecies of asian leopard cats are allowed as pets. The most commonly stumbled upon exotic wild cats that are spotted or rosetted pattern are in this article. When you hear about an Asian Leopard cat you may not realize it is a common name for many subspecies of cat. Each subspecies of asian leopard cat has brought its own individual traits to the Bengal Breed as a whole. However not all subspecies are legal to own or evern create hybrids with.
The Asian leopard cat that is most commonly referred to subspecies can be found across India, Koreas, China and on islands for example Sumatra, Borneo, Belgium, Taiwan, Bali and Java. You won't be finding an ALC easily because they are reclusive, solitary and nocturnal. Nocturnal means they come out at night. Making them hard to study, get pictures of and it even makes in captivity challenging. During play time you will see that alc's are amazing swimmers and tree climbing is a breeze. The Asian leopard prefers an brush habitat or forest habitat.
Asian leopards on weight seven to fifteen pounds. Males are almost always much larger than females. In fact Asian leopards can be smaller than your average domestic cat. If you ever saw an Asian leopards pelt you would marvel at the pattern. These tiny leopard cats are hunted for the fur trade due to the amazing rosette and spotted patterns they sport. It is illegal to own such ALC fur. And its the fur trade that got Asian leopards put on the Endangered species list. It's going to surprise you but their are around ten subspecies of Asian leopard cats. There is tremendous variety in coloration and pattern within subspecies due to climate and elevation of location.
The Asian leopard cat hybrid (Now named the Bengal cat) was first mentioned in 1934 within a Belgian scientific journal. New bloodlines are still being produced today with care. Some of the most famous Asian Leopard Cats are: Taro, Phantom, Centerwall, Rajah Singh and many others. Image credit: Google images
Article by: F1hybrids savannah cats