A reporter from The Cover News found out from the Jiuzhaigou Scenic Area Administration on December 1st that recently staff members doing biodiversity monitoring in Jiuzhaigou came across the Desert Cat, a wild animal under first-class national protection, sorting through images taken by infrared cameras that had been obtained.
This identifies a new species spread over the Jiuzhaigou National Nature Reserve. The reserve once had seven species of first-class national protected mammals: Giant Panda, Sichuan Snub-nosed Monkey, Goral, Forest Musk Deer, Tibetan Musk Deer, Dhole, and Asian Golden Cat; today the count is eight.
Desert Mammal
Reportedly the only feline species native to China is the Desert Cat. Small population size, low distribution density, and secretive behavior have all contributed to its uncommon observed over years. Published in 2009, the “Field Guide to the Mammals of China,” said it to be “the least known feline species.”
Mammals of the family Felidae, the Desert Cat is a member of the genus Felis. Adults weigh 4 to 8 kg and measure 61 to 68 cm in length, so it has a really big body size. Most of its fur is light yellow-gray in appearance; its back in the middle is reddish-brown. Its underfur is plentiful and its fur is long and thick. Its limbs include multiple subdued dark stripes, big pointed ears with tufts of hair, and three to five black rings at the end of its tail—with the tip black.
Living at 2,500–5,000 meters, the Desert Cat is a real alpine cat. It also favors a particular habitat, alpine meadows. Its limited distribution range therefore usually consists on alpine meadows in western Sichuan, southern Gansu, the northeastern Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, and eastern Qinghai. Being very attentive and enjoying seclusion, living alone until during the breeding season (January to March), the Desert Cat hunts mostly at night. These traits make it among the toughest feline species one might find. With many rodent species making up up up to 90% of its food, the Desert Cat is also a proficient hunter and earns the moniker “rodent nemesis.”
The Desert Cat cannot afford to be picky eaters, though, because of the barren surroundings in which it lives—there are few prey species available. Apart from feeding on several rodent species, the Desert Cat’s diet consists in birds, insects, reptiles, and more. The Desert Cat has evolved soft underfur and dense hair to retain warmth over the protracted process of species evolution in order to suit the cold alpine environment. But it is just this advantage that has caused people to catch Desert Cats in great numbers in the past, therefore reducing their population. The Desert Cat is listed as critically endangered both on the “China Species Red List” and the “China Biodiversity Red List”.
Being a feline species native to China, the Desert Cat has great academic importance because of its biological traits that make discovery challenging and the present dearth of study on it. Protection and research initiatives should so be reinforced.
