Jungle cat ジャングルキャット

The jungle cat is a wild cat found from Egypt through the Middle East, central Asia and South Asia to Southeast Asia. It is larger and longer-legged than a house cat, and its Japanese alternative name, yoshineko, means “reed cat”, reflecting its preference for wetlands and waterside reed beds. It belongs to the same genus, Felis, as the house cat, and the Chausie breed was created by crossing it with house cats. It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List.

It has a head-and-body length of 58–76 cm and weighs about 5–9 kg, with males considerably larger than females. The coat is sandy brown, reddish-brown or grey without obvious markings, with stripes on the upper legs. The ears are large, reddish on the back, and tipped with short black tufts. The tail is fairly short, about a third of the head-and-body length. The winter coat is darker and denser than the summer coat.

It lives alone and is active both day and night. It climbs and swims well. Its main prey is rodents under 1 kg, and one estimate suggests it eats about 1,500 rodents a year. It also eats birds, frogs, lizards and insects, and near villages it sometimes takes poultry. Gestation lasts about 63–68 days, and litters are of 3–4 kittens.

It is found from Egypt through the Middle East, the Caucasus including southern Russia, central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and Sri Lanka to Southeast Asia and southern China. The 2017 classification recognizes three subspecies: F. c. chaus, F. c. affinis and F. c. fulvidina.

It favours wetlands, reed beds, riverside thickets, scrub and grassland, and also uses farmland such as sugarcane fields. Most live below 1,000 m, but it has been recorded at 4,000 m in the Himalayas.

The Chausie breed was created by crossing jungle cats with house cats. It was registered by TICA (The International Cat Association) in 1995 and gained championship status in 2013. Jungle cats have also been reported among ancient Egyptian cat mummies.

It is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, but its population is thought to be decreasing. The situation is serious in some regions: it is considered Endangered (EN) in China and Vulnerable (VU) in Israel, and it has been declining in the Caucasus since the 1960s. The main threats are traps and poison baits, habitat destruction from wetland development and dam construction, the illegal fur trade, road traffic, and conflict with people over poultry losses. It is listed in CITES Appendix II.

Based on an animal reported under the name “Chaus” by the naturalist Güldenstädt in 1776, the German naturalist Schreber gave it the scientific name Felis chaus in 1777. It was once divided into as many as ten subspecies, but the 2017 classification reduced these to three.