Leopard cat

Bengal ( subspecies P. b. Bengalensis )

The Bengal cat ( Prionailurus bengalensis ) or leopard cat is a wild cat of South and East Asia. Since 2002, the Bengal cat in the red list of endangered species by the World Conservation Union IUCN as Endangered Not (Least Concern ) out because it is widespread. However, in a part of its range it is threatened by habitat loss and hunting.

Features

The Bengal cat is about the size of a house cat, but slimmer and has longer legs. Her head is marked with two prominent dark stripes, relatively small with a bright, short and narrow snout and round ears that are black on the reverse with a small bright spot in the middle. On body and limbs she has black spots of different sizes and shapes and two to four rows of elongated spots over the back. The tail is speckled with a few rings at the end. The background of their spotted fur is yellow-brown to silvery gray in color with a white belly. However, the size and coloring of the spots as well as height and weight vary so greatly that it was held for different species in their wide distribution area. In the tropics living Bengals weigh between 550 g and 3.8 kg with a head -body length of 38.8 to 66 cm and a tail length of 17.2 to 31 cm. The living in northern China and Siberia weigh up to 7.1 kg with a head-body length of 75 cm; before the winter they usually take to gain weight, they lose to spring again.

The Bengal is characterized by a large intraspecific variability. Here, especially Bengal from the northern parts of the range, for example from eastern Siberia differ materially from those forms from areas near the equator. In the south, the ground color is yellowish - brown, like a leopard, while in the north pale silver gray. The spots are small dots in northern populations large rosettes in southern Bengal.

Distribution and habitat

Bengal cats are the most common small cats of Asia. Its distribution ranges from the Amur region in the Far East of Russia over Korea, China, Indochina, west to northern Pakistan and south to the Philippines and the Sunda Islands of Indonesia. They are found in agricultural regions, but prefer forested areas. They live in tropical evergreen rain forests and plantations at sea level as well as in subtropical moist mixed forests and pine forests of the foothills of the Himalayas at altitudes above 1000 m. In 2009, a Bengal cat in Nepal Makalu Barun National Park - was photographed at an altitude of 3254 m using a camera trap. In the dominated by rhododendron, oak and maple field of investigation of food at least six individuals. In the northeast of their range they live near rivers, valleys and ravine forests, but avoid areas where more than 10 cm of snow. In dry treeless areas of Pakistan they are rare.

In the Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Sabah examined Bengals had an average of 3.5 km2 areas. In Thailand's Phu Khieu Wildlife Reserve 20 Bengal cats were fitted with radio collars between 1999 and 2003. Kuder had 2.2 km2 to 28.9 km2 large home ranges that were between 4.4 km2 to 37.1 km2 of 6 cats.

Subspecies and their distribution

Since 1792 numerous subspecies of Bengal have been described, the validity of which is partly controversial. The Amur ( Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura ) from Northeast Asia could represent a separate species, genetic studies provided so far, however, no clear results. The genetic differences between Amurkatzen and leopard cats from Southeast Asia are so large that a classification as a separate species appears to be justified; However, the differences between Chinese Bengals are so low that a taxonomic classification is attached as a subspecies.

Was originally described as a separate species, the Iriomote Cat. Genetic studies indicate that these Japanese wild cat is a subspecies of Prionailurus bengalensis.

Currently, the following subspecies are recognized:

  • P. b. bengalensis ( Kerr, 1792) - arrives in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Malay Peninsula, Indochina and Yunnan ago in China;
  • P. b. javanensis ( Desmarest, 1816) - lives in Java and Bali;
  • P. b. sumatranus ( Horsfield 1821) - lives in Sumatra and Tebingtinggi;
  • P. b. chinensis (Gray 1837) - lives in Taiwan and in China except in Yunnan;
  • P. b. horsfieldi (Gray 1842) - lives in Kashmir, Punjab, Kumaon, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan;
  • P. b. euptilura ( Elliott, 1871) - the Amur cat lives in southeastern Siberia, Manchuria, Korea, and on the island of Tsushima;
  • P. b. borneoensis ( Brongersma 1936) - lives in Borneo;
  • P. b. trevelyani ( Pocock 1939) - lives in the north of Kashmir and Punjab and Baluchistan in the south;
  • P. b. iriomotensis ( Imaizumi, 1967) - living on the Japanese island of Iriomote;
  • P. b. alleni ( Sody, 1949) - lives in Hainan;
  • P. b. heaneyi ( Groves 1997) - lives on the Philippine island of Palawan;
  • P. b. rabori ( Groves 1997) - lives on the Philippine islands of Negros, Cebu and Panay.

Way of life

Bengal cats are solitary. You can climb well and are in oil palm plantations in Sabah on the hunt for rodents and beetles been located up to 4 m above the ground. They rest in trees, but also hide in the thicket at the bottom. Some are active during the day; but they hunt mostly at dusk and at night, mainly long-tailed mice, shrews and rabbits.

They are good swimmers and small islands inhabited at some distance from the coast. Their prey includes birds, reptiles, fish and crustaceans.

Threat

Especially in China, the Bengal cat is hunted for their fur. Between 1984 and 1989 about 200,000 skins were exported annually. A survey conducted in 1989 among Chinese fur traders investigation revealed more than 800,000 skins in inventories. Since the European Union banned the import of fur in 1988, Japan has become the main customers and in 1989 50,000 skins imported.

Even if the trade has subsided, Bengals are still hunted or caught for use as a pet for their fur and for food.

483 body parts of at least 443 individuals were counted between 1991 and 2006 in Myanmar during surveys in four markets. Three of the surveyed markets are located near international borders between China and Thailand and are aligned to international buyers. The Bengal is indeed extensively protected by Myanmar's national legislation, but the enforcement of these laws and the enforcement of the CITES Convention is considered to be insufficient.

Conservation

Prionailurus bengalensis is listed in Appendix II of the CITES Convention and is available in most countries of its range under protection. The populations in Bangladesh, India and Thailand will be awarded in the national legislation of the highest protection. Hunting Bengal is prohibited in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Taiwan.

The Endangered Species Act of the USA Prionailurus bengalensis is listed as endangered ( endangered ).

Since 1995, the Japanese government supports a program for conservation of the Tsushima leopard cat (Japanese対 马 山猫, Tsushima Yamaneko, " Tsushima wildcat "), which is managed as high-risk in the Japanese Red List.

Taxonomic history

In 1792, Robert Kerr described in his translation of Linnaeus 's Systema Naturae, the first time the Bengal than in the south of Bengal Felis bengalensis -based. Between 1829 and 1922, 20 Descriptions have been published, the authors einordneten Bengal under the genus Felis and Leopardus. Because of the individual color variations Bengal from the sphere of influence of British India as Felis Felis nipalensis and pardochrous from Nepal, Leopardus ellioti from the area around Bombay, as Felis Felis wagati and tenasserimensis from Tenasserim and Leopardus horsfieldi from Bhutan have been described. Reginald Innes Pocock was not until 1939, it ordered the genus Prionailurus to. With him were some skulls and several dozen skins available, and came from many regions. Based on this wide range of skins, he suggested, between a southern subspecies Prionailurus bengalensis bengalensis from warmer latitudes and the northern parts of the Himalayas Prionailurus bengalensis horsfieldi to distinguish, as the latter in winter coat grows denser than the southern. On the basis of seven skins from the area around Gilgit and Karachi, he described Bengal under the name Treveleyans Bengal Prionailurus bengalensis trevelyani because these skins long-haired, pale and gray were than those from the Himalayas. He speculated that trevelyani lives in rockier, less forested habitats than bengalensis and horsfieldi.

Originating from China skins and skulls were 1837-1930 as Felis chinensis, Leopardus reevesii, Felis scripta, Felis Microtis, decolorata, ricketti, ingrami, anastasiae sinensis and described, which were later combined under Felis bengalensis chinensis. After the beginning of the 20th century Wildcats sighted British naturalist during a reconnaissance trip in East Asia on the island of Tsushima in the Korean Strait and skins sent to London, Oldfield Thomas arranged the population under Felis Microtis, Henri Milne -Edwards in 1872 described.

The similarity of two skins from Siberia motivated Daniel Giraud Elliot in 1871 to describe Felis euptilura. One coat was mapped to a drawing with description of Gustav Radde; the other was part of a collection of the Zoological Gardens at Regent's Park. Both were pale brownish yellow, strong gray by drawing with red - brown spots, gray head and dark red stripes on the cheeks. As Felis manchurica described Tamezo Mori 1922 a similarly spotted, but lighter colored gray cat on the basis of fur from near Mukden in Manchuria. Later, both were grouped under the Felis bengalensis trinomen euptilura as a subspecies of Bengal. In the 1970s contradicted Russian zoologists as Geptner, Gromov and Baranova this hitherto ruling class. They put emphasis on the name Amur, as available to them skins and skulls were significantly different from those who came from Southeast Asia, and regarded the Amur as a separate article in 1987 reported Chinese zoologists point out that in the North East China's occurring cats have great similarities with both the north occurring Amurkatzen and with the further south occurring Bengal. They argued that it the classification of the Amur was not justified as kind with respect.

The Iriomote Cat was proposed in 1967 as an independent species Prionailurus iriomotensis with the synonym Mayailurus iriomotensis. In the 1990s, conducted mtDNA analysis suggests that the Iriomote cat and the wild cats from Tsushima as a subspecies of Prionailurus bengalensis are evaluated.

After investigations, the phylogeografischen Tshushima leopard cat is closely related to the Amur and is classified along with it as a subspecies Prionailurus bengalensis euptilura. The population populated Tsushima probably from 30,000 years ago from Korea.

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