Very little is known about Felis bieti, what is known comes mostly from captive individuals in zoos. There is an argument in the scientific community as to whether Felis bieti is a valid species or a subspecies of Felis silvestris (common wildcats). If it is determined to be a subspecies it will be renamed Felis silvestris bieti (Sanderson et al., 2010).
Chinese mountain cats rely heavily on hearing to track their prey.
Perception Channels: tactile ; chemical
The total population of Chinese mountain cats includes fewer than 10,000 individuals and the population trend is decreasing. Two major threats to Chinese mountain cats have been identified, and both involve humans. The first is that these cats are hunted for their fur. The pelts are used to make clothes and traditional hats. Although hunting Chinese mountain cats is illegal, their skins are still found in Chinese shops. The second major threat to Felis bieti is China's poisoning campaign against pikas and various rodent pests. Pikas are considered pests because they eat the grass that livestock would otherwise eat. Livestock farmers have used zinc phosphide and other similar chemicals to kill the pikas. A poisoning campaign was enacted from 1958 to 1978 after which it was discontinued because it became evident that the poison was killing predators of the pikas as well. Unfortunately, small scale poisoning still occurs throughout most of the Chinese mountain cat's range. These cats are protected under Category 1 of the Chinese Wildlife Law and Appendix 2 of CITES.
US Federal List: no special status
CITES: appendix ii
State of Michigan List: no special status
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: vulnerable
Chinese mountain cats have no known negative economic impacts on humans.
Chinese mountain cats help farmers in China to control pest populations. Pika species (Ochotona), which are favored prey of Chinese mountain cats, are seen as pests by some Chinese farmers because they consume grasses that livestock may also eat.
It is illegal to hunt Chinese mountain cats, but their pelts are often found in Chinese markets.
Positive Impacts: body parts are source of valuable material; controls pest population
The ecology of Chinese mountain cats has never been formally studied and hence their role in the ecosystem is unknown. They probably influence the population sizes of some prey species.
Chinese mountain cats are carnivores; they eat primarily small mammals such as pikas, zokors (muroid rodents that resemble mole rats), and other rodents. They use their keen sense of hearing, accommodated by large auditory bullae, to track prey. They hunt fossorial prey, such as zokors, by listening to them in their tunnels, and then digging them up. In addition to catching small mammals, they may catch pheasants and other birds.
Animal Foods: birds; mammals
Primary Diet: carnivore (Eats terrestrial vertebrates)
Felis bieti (Chinese mountain cat) is the only know endemic cat of China. It is restricted to the mountains of China and has been spotted in the provinces of Qinghai, Sichuan, Gansu, Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang, and Tibet. It is mainly confined to high elevation grasslands and in 2004 was found only in the north western regions of Sichuan and the eastern half of Qinghai. Records of its presence in more northern desert regions are likely based on misidentifications of domestic cats and of asiatic wildcats, Felis silvestris ornata.
Biogeographic Regions: palearctic (Native )
Chinese mountain cats live in alpine meadows, steppe grasslands, mountain shrub lands, and on the edges of high elevation coniferous forests from 2500 to 5000 meters. Their dense fur helps them withstand the extreme mountain climate. Although Felis bieti is sometimes referred to as the "Chinese desert cat", this species is not reported to live in desert areas.
Range elevation: 2500 to 5000 m.
Habitat Regions: temperate ; terrestrial
Terrestrial Biomes: savanna or grassland ; forest ; scrub forest ; mountains
The lifespan of Chinese mountain cats has not been recorded, but the closely related jungle cat has an average lifespan of 14 years.
Chinese mountain cats have a broad and sturdy build. The legs and tail are relatively short, the tail being approximately 40% of the body length. The pelt changes color according to season, being light grey in winter and brown during the summer. The sides, legs, and tail are covered in dark grey stripes and the tip of the tail is black. There are dark brown tufts on the tip of each ear.
A distinctive feature is the large size of its auditory bullae, the hollow bony structures that enclose the middle and inner ears of placental mammals; in this species they represent 25% of the skull length.
Range mass: 4 to 9 kg.
Range length: 60 to 85 cm.
Other Physical Features: endothermic ; homoiothermic; bilateral symmetry
Sexual Dimorphism: male larger
Chinese mountain cats are top predators and the adults are not preyed on by other animals. The young are occasionally taken by wolves, brown bears, and other large predators. Mothers protect their young from predation by hiding them in a burrow.
Known Predators:
Anti-predator Adaptations: cryptic
Little is know about the Chinese mountain cat mating system, but the closely related jungle cat exhibits promiscuity, meaning that both males and females mate with multiple partners. Male and female Chinese mountain cats live in solitary burrows except during the mating season when they have been reported to live together.
Mating System: polygynandrous (promiscuous)
Chinese mountain cats breed from January to March, kittens are born in May. There are 2 to 4 kittens per brood. Mothers care for their young in a burrow where they are safe from predators. The kittens become independent after 7 to 8 months.
Breeding interval: Chinese mountain cats breed once yearly.
Breeding season: The breeding season for Chinese mountain cats is January to March.
Range number of offspring: 2 to 4.
Range time to independence: 7 to 8 months.
Key Reproductive Features: iteroparous ; seasonal breeding ; gonochoric/gonochoristic/dioecious (sexes separate); sexual ; viviparous
There is no information available regarding parental investment in Felis bieti, but in the closely related jungle cat the majority of parental care is supplied by the mother. The father occasionally stays to protect the territory.
Parental Investment: altricial ; female parental care ; pre-fertilization (Provisioning, Protecting: Female); pre-hatching/birth (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female); pre-weaning/fledging (Provisioning: Female, Protecting: Female)
The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti), also known as Chinese desert cat and Chinese steppe cat, is a small wild cat endemic to western China that has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the effective population size may be fewer than 10,000 mature breeding individuals.[3]
It was provisionally classified as a wildcat subspecies with the name F. silvestris bieti in 2007.[4] It is recognised as a valid species since 2017, as it is morphologically distinct from wildcats.[1]
The scientific name Felis bieti was proposed by Alphonse Milne-Edwards in 1892 who described the Chinese mountain cat based on a skin collected in Sichuan Province. He named it Felis Bieti after the French missionary Félix Biet.[5]
Some authorities consider the chutuchta and vellerosa subspecies of the wildcat as Chinese mountain cat subspecies.[2]
The Chinese mountain cat has sand-coloured fur with dark guard hairs. Faint dark horizontal stripes on the face and legs are hardly visible. Its ears have black tips. It has a relatively broad skull, and long hair growing between the pads of their feet. It is whitish on the belly, and its legs and tail bear black rings. The tip of the tail is black. It is 69–84 cm (27–33 in) long in head and body with a 29–41 cm (11–16 in) long tail. Adults weigh from 6.5–9 kg (14–20 lb).[6]
The Chinese mountain cat is endemic to China and lives on the north-eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. It was recorded only in eastern Qinghai and north-western Sichuan.[7] It inhabits high-elevation steppe grassland, alpine meadow, alpine shrubland and coniferous forest edges between 2,500 and 5,000 m (8,200 and 16,400 ft) elevation. It has not been confirmed in true desert or heavily forested mountains.[8]
The first photographs of a wild Chinese mountain cat were taken by camera traps during light snow in May 2007 at 3,570 m (11,710 ft) elevation in Sichuan. These photographs were taken in rolling grasslands and brush-covered mountains.[9] One individual was observed and photographed in May 2015 in the Ruoergai grasslands.[10] Between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Chinese mountain cats were documented in an alpine meadow in the southeastern Sanjiangyuan region.[11]
The Chinese mountain cat is active at night and preys on pikas, rodents and birds. It breeds between January and March. Females give birth to two to four kittens in a secluded burrow.[8]
Until 2007, the Chinese mountain cat was known only from six individuals, all living in Chinese zoos, and a few skins in museums.[9]
The Chinese mountain cat is threatened due to the organised poisoning of pikas. The poison used diminishes prey species and also kills cats unintentionally.[7]
Felis bieti is listed on CITES Appendix II.[3] It is protected in China by laws such as the Animal Protection Law and the Forestry Law.[7] Since February 2021, it is included in the National First-Class Protected Animals under the Law of the People’s Republic on the Conservation of Wild Animals.[3]
The Chinese mountain cat (Felis bieti), also known as Chinese desert cat and Chinese steppe cat, is a small wild cat endemic to western China that has been listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List since 2002, as the effective population size may be fewer than 10,000 mature breeding individuals.
It was provisionally classified as a wildcat subspecies with the name F. silvestris bieti in 2007. It is recognised as a valid species since 2017, as it is morphologically distinct from wildcats.
