The leopard cat (Prionailurus bengalensis) is a small wild cat of South and East Asia. Since 2002 it has been listed as Least Concern by IUCN as it is widely distributed but threatened by habitat loss and hunting in parts of its range. There are twelve leopard cat subspecies, which differ widely in appearance.
The leopard cat's name is derived from the leopard-like spots prevalent in all subspecies, but its relation to the leopard is distant.
Read more about Leopard Cat: Characteristics, Distribution and Habitat, Ecology and Behavior, Threats, Conservation, Taxonomic History, Leopard Cats As Pets
Famous quotes containing the words leopard and/or cat:
“This universal exhibition in Canada of the tools and sinews of war reminded me of the keeper of a menagerie showing his animals’ claws. It was the English leopard showing his claws.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“A few years before I lived in the woods there was what was called a “winged cat” in one of the farmhouses.... This would have been the right kind of cat for me to keep, if I had kept any; for why should not a poet’s cat be winged as well as his horse?”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)