View source for Chinese mountain cat

{{short description|Small wild cat}}
{{Speciesbox
| name = Chinese mountain cat
| image = Chinese Mountain Cat (Felis Bieti) in XiNing Wild Zoo 2.jpg
| image_caption = Chinese mountain cat in [[Xining]] Zoo
| status = VU
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name=iucn>{{cite iucn |title=''Felis bieti'' |name-list-style=amp |author=Luo, S.-J. |author2=Han, S. |author3=Song, D. |author4=Li, S. |author5=Liu, Y. |author6=He, B. |author7=Zhang, M. |author8=Yamaguchi, N. |date=2022 |article-number=e.T8539A213200674 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2022-1.RLTS.T8539A213200674.en |access-date=20 March 2023}}</ref>
| status2 = CITES_A2
| status2_system = CITES
| status2_ref = <ref name=iucn/>
| genus = Felis
| species = bieti<ref name=Kitchener_al2017/><ref name=msw3>{{MSW3 Wozencraft |pages=534 |id=14000030 |heading=''Felis bieti''}}</ref>
| authority = [[Alphonse Milne-Edwards|Milne-Edwards]], 1892
| range_map = Distribution of Chinese mountain cat 2022.png
| range_map_caption = Distribution of the Chinese mountain cat as of 2022<ref name=iucn />
}}

The '''Chinese mountain cat''' ('''''Felis bieti'''''), also known as '''Chinese desert cat''' and '''Chinese steppe cat''', is a small wild ''[[Felis]]'' species with sand-coloured fur, faint dark stripes on the face and legs and black tipped ears. It is [[Endemism|endemic]] to the [[Tibetan Plateau]] of [[western China]], where it lives in [[grassland]] above elevations of {{cvt|2500|m}}. It has been listed as [[vulnerable species|vulnerable]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] since 2002.

==Taxonomy and phylogeny==
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'' in honour of the French missionary [[Félix Biet]].<ref>{{cite journal |author=Milne-Edwards, A. |year=1892 |title=Observations sur les mammifères du Thibet |journal=Revue générale des sciences pures et appliquées |volume=III |pages=670–671 |url=https://archive.org/stream/bulletinbiologiq03univ#page/670/mode/2up}}</ref>

In 2007, it was provisionally classified as a wildcat [[subspecies]] under the name ''F. silvestris bieti''.<ref name="CA-Driscoll">{{cite journal |author=Driscoll, C. A. |author2=Menotti-Raymond, M. |author3=Roca, A. L. |author4=Hupe, K. |author5=Johnson, W. E. |author6=Geffen, E. |author7=Harley, E. H. |author8= Delibes, M. |author9=Pontier, D. |author10=Kitchener, A. C. |author11=Yamaguchi, N. |author12=O'Brien, S. J. |author13=Macdonald, D. W. |year=2007 |title=The Near Eastern Origin of Cat Domestication |journal=Science |volume=317 |issue=5837 |pages=519–523 |doi=10.1126/science.1139518 |pmid=17600185 |url=http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/resbot/repr/add/domesticcat_driscoll2007.pdf |pmc=5612713|bibcode=2007Sci...317..519D}}</ref>
It has been recognised as a [[valid name (zoology)|valid]] species since 2017, as it is [[morphology (biology)|morphologically]] distinct from wildcats. Two subspecies were formerly recognized although neither is presently considered valid. ''Felis bieti chutuchta'' was described from a skull and pelt from ''Felis lybica'', and ''F. bieti vellerosa'' from a skin of either ''Felis chausi'' or ''Felis catus'' taken outside of its original range.<ref name=Kitchener_al2017>{{cite journal |author1=Kitchener, A. C. |author2=Breitenmoser-Würsten, C. |author3=Eizirik, E. |author4=Gentry, A. |author5=Werdelin, L. |author6=Wilting, A. |author7=Yamaguchi, N. |author8=Abramov, A. V. |author9=Christiansen, P. |author10=Driscoll, C. |author11=Duckworth, J. W. |author12=Johnson, W. |author13=Luo, S.-J. |author14=Meijaard, E. |author15=O'Donoghue, P. |author16=Sanderson, J. |author17=Seymour, K. |author18=Bruford, M. |author19=Groves, C. |author20=Hoffmann, M. |author21=Nowell, K. |author22=Timmons, Z. |author23=Tobe, S. |name-list-style=amp |year=2017 |title=A revised taxonomy of the Felidae: The final report of the Cat Classification Task Force of the IUCN Cat Specialist Group |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 11 |pages=15−16 |url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/32616/A_revised_Felidae_Taxonomy_CatNews.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y}}</ref>

The Chinese mountain cat belongs to an [[evolution]]ary ''Felis'' [[Lineage (evolution)|lineage]] that is estimated to have had a [[common ancestor]] with the [[Asiatic wildcat]] (''F. lybica ornata'') around {{mya|1.5}} during the [[Middle Pleistocene]].<ref name=Li_al2016>{{cite journal |author=Li, G. |author2=Davis, B. W. |author3=Eizirik, E. |name-list-style=amp |author4=Murphy, W. J. |year=2016 |title=Phylogenomic evidence for ancient hybridization in the genomes of living cats (Felidae) |journal=Genome Research |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1–11 |doi=10.1101/gr.186668.114 |pmid=26518481 |pmc=4691742}}</ref> [[Gene flow]] from Chinese mountain cats to domestic [[cat]]s (''F. catus'') in a few areas of the Tibetan Plateau is estimated to have happened between the 1960s and 2000s.<ref name=Yu2021>{{cite journal |last1=Yu |first1=H. |last2=Xing |first2=Y.T. |last3=Meng |first3=H. |last4=He |first4=B. |last5=Li |first5=W.J. |last6=Qi |first6=X.Z. |last7=Zhao |first7=J.Y. |last8=Zhuang |first8=Y. |last9=Xu |first9=X. |last10=Yamaguchi |first10=N. |last11=Driscoll |first11=C.A. |last12=O'Brien |first12=S.J. |last13=Luo |first13=S.J. |title=Genomic evidence for the Chinese mountain cat as a wildcat conspecific (''Felis silvestris bieti'') and its introgression to domestic cats |journal=Science Advances |date=2021 |volume=7 |issue=26 |article-number=eabg0221 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abg0221 |pmid=34162544 |pmc=8221621 |bibcode=2021SciA....7..221Y |doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
The Chinese mountain cat has sand-coloured fur with dark [[guard hair]]s. 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 {{cvt|69|–|84|cm}} long in head and body with a {{cvt|29|–|41|cm}} long tail. Adults weigh from {{cvt|6.5|to|9|kg}}.<ref name=WCoW>{{cite book |author=Sunquist, M. |author2=Sunquist, F. |name-list-style=amp |year=2002 |title=Wild Cats of the World |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |chapter=Chinese desert cat ''Felis bieti'' (Milne-Edwards, 1892 |pages=57–59 |isbn=978-0-226-77999-7 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hFbJWMh9-OAC&pg=PA57}}</ref>

==Distribution and habitat==
The Chinese mountain cat is [[Endemic species|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]].<ref name=He2004>{{cite journal |author=He L. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Garcia-Perea, R. |author3=Li M. |author4=Wei F. |year = 2004 |title=Distribution and conservation status of the endemic Chinese mountain cat ''Felis bieti'' | journal=Oryx |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=55–61 |doi=10.1017/s0030605304000092 |doi-access=free}}</ref>
It inhabits high-elevation steppe [[grassland]], [[alpine meadow]], alpine [[shrubland]] and [[coniferous forest]] edges at elevations of {{cvt|2500|-|5000|m}}. It has not been confirmed in true [[desert]] or heavily forested mountains.<ref name=Liao1988>{{cite journal |author=Liao Y. |year=1988 |title=Some biological information of desert cat in Qinhai |journal=Acta Theriologica Sinica |volume=8 |pages=128–131}}</ref>

The first photographs of a wild Chinese mountain cat were taken in 2007.<ref name=Yin2007>{{cite journal |author1=Yin Y. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Drubgyal N. |author3=Achu |author4=Lu Z. |author5=Sanderson J. |year=2007 |title=First photographs in nature of the Chinese mountain cat |journal=Cat News |issue=47 |pages=6–7}}</ref> Between May 2015 and April 2016, individuals were observed and photographed in rocky terrain and grasslands in [[Ruoergai]] county.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Francis, S. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Muzika, Y. |year=2015 |title=Chinese Mountain Cat in the Ruoergai Grasslands |journal=Small Wild Cat Conservation News |volume=1 |issue=1 |url=http://www.smallcats.org/files/SWCCN_2015_01_01.pdf |page=II |access-date=2015-08-05 |archive-date=2022-08-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808104218/https://smallcats.org/files/SWCCN_2015_01_01.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Webb, R. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Francis, S. |author3=Telfer, P. |author4=Guillemont, A. |year=2016 |title=Chinese mountain cat and Pallas's cat co-existing on the Tibetan Plateau in Sichuan |journal=Cat News |issue=63 |pages=31–33 |url=https://savemanul.org/docs/Webb_etal_2016_Chinese_mountain_cat_and_Pallas_cat_co-existing_on_Tibetan_Plateau_Sichuan.pdf}}</ref> In 2016–2017, a camera trap survey in a provincial nature reserve in Xinlong County yielded records in conifer forest at an elevation range of {{cvt|3838–4026|m}}.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Yu X. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Bin W. |author3=Xiaodong G. |author4=Dazhao S. |author5=Biao Y. |year=2022 |title=Camera trapping reveals area of conservation significance for large and medium-sized mammals on the eastern Tibetan Plateau |journal=Oryx |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=137–144 |doi=10.1017/S0030605320000319 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Chinese mountain cats were documented in an alpine meadow in the [[Sanjiangyuan]] region of the Tibetan Plateau.<ref name=Han_al2020>{{cite journal |author1=Xue-Song Han |name-list-style=amp |author2=Huai-Qing Chen |author3=Zheng-Yi Dong |author4=Ling-Yun Xiao |author5=Xiang Zhao |author6=Zhi Lu |year=2020 |title=Discovery of first active breeding den of Chinese mountain cat (''Felis bieti'') |journal=Zoological Research |volume=41 |issue=X |pages=341–344 |doi=10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2020.039 |pmid=32274906 |pmc=7231468 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Ecology and behaviour ==
The Chinese mountain cat preys on [[pika]]s, [[rodent]]s and [[bird]]s. It breeds between January and March. Females give birth to two to four kittens in a secluded burrow.<ref name=Liao1988/> The burrows are typically abandoned marmot or badger dens on south-facing slopes.<ref name=Sanderson2010>{{cite journal |last1=Sanderson |first1=J. |last2=Y. |first2=Yin |last3=Drubgayal |first3=N. |date=2010 |title=Of the only endemic cat species in China |journal=Cat News |issue=Special Issue 5 |pages=18–21}}</ref> Cats have been observed to kill marmots before taking residence in their burrows.<ref name=Han_al2020/>

Ten Chinese mountain cats were studied in the [[Qilian Mountains]] from June 2020 to December 2021; they were active throughout the day but with a higher activity level from late afternoon to early night.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Kong, Y.Q. |name-list-style=amp |author2=Liu, Y.L. |author3=He, C.W. |author4=Li, T.T. |author5=Li, Q.L. |author6=Ma, C.X. |author7=Wang, D.J. |author8=Li, S. |year=2022 |title=Determining the daily activity pattern of Chinese mountain cat (''Felis bieti''): a comparative study based on camera-trapping and satellite collar tracking data |journal=Biodiversity Science |volume=30 |issue=9 |article-number=22081 |doi=10.17520/biods.2022081 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

== Threats ==
The Chinese mountain cat is threatened due to the organised poisoning of [[pika]]s. The poison used diminishes prey species and also kills cats unintentionally.<ref name=He2004/>

== Conservation ==
''Felis bieti'' is listed on [[CITES Appendix II]].<ref name=iucn/> It is protected in China by laws such as the Animal Protection Law and the Forestry Law.<ref name=He2004/> It has been listed as a [[vulnerable species]] on the [[IUCN Red List]] since 2002 and is included in the list of ''National First-Class Protected Animals'' under the ''Law of the People's Republic on the Conservation of Wild Animals'' since February 2021.<ref name=iucn/>

In July 2023, a Chinese mountain cat was fitted with a [[GPS collar]] and released into the wild by the Qinghai Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Center. A five-year-old male was caught in a mouse trap when trying to hunt in a chicken pen. He was sent to the Center in June 2023 to be treated for a leg wound and for rehabilitation.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Ma Kexin |author2=Zhang Liping |title=全球首例！荒漠猫佩戴卫星定位项圈放归野外 |url=http://qh.people.com.cn/n2/2023/0912/c182775-40567649.html |date=2023 |language=zh |trans-title=A world first! Desert cats are released into the wild wearing satellite positioning collars |website=People's Daily}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[List of endangered and protected species of China]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{cite web |url=http://www.catsg.org/index.php?id=104 |website=IUCN Cat Specialist Group |title=Chinese mountain cat ''Felis bieti''}}
*{{cite AV media |title=Chinese mountain cat den in Qinghai |url=https://birdingbeijing.com/2018/10/12/chinese-mountain-cat/ |publisher=Birding Beijing |date=2018}}

{{Carnivora|Fe.}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q204322}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cat, Chinese Mountain}}
[[Category:Felis|Chinese Mountain Cat]]
[[Category:Mammals described in 1892]]
[[Category:Endemic fauna of China]]
[[Category:Mammals of China]]